
ARTIFICIAL ROCKWORK. 

Cnnstruc-t^'d by (i. M. Krrx, and exhibited at the Fall Exhibition of 
T/ie I'inciimnti Horticultural Society — 1854, 



PRACTICAL 

LANDSCAPE GARDENING, 




WITH EEPEEENCE TO XHB 



IMPROVEMENT OF RURAI RESIDENCES, 



THE GENEEAl PRINCIPLES OF THE AET; 

WITH FULL DLRECTIONS FOR 

PLANTING SHADE TREES, SHRUBBERY AND FLOWERS, 
AND LAYING OUT GROUNDS. 

BY 
G. M. KERN. 



CINCINNATI: 
MOORE, WILSTACH, KEYS & CO., 

NO. 25 WEST FOURTH STREET. 

1855. 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1855, by 
MOORE, WILSTACH, KEYS & CO., 
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Ohio. 



..■^'^ ' 



"-D 



Stereotyped and Printed by 
MOORE, WILSTACH, KEYS & OVEREXD, 

CINCINNATI. 



TO 

ANDREW H. ERNST, ESQ., 

DISTINGTCnSHED FOR HIS LOVE OP HOETICULTUKAL PUESUITS, 

C Ij i s ^ alum z 
IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED 

BY THE 

AUTHOR. 



PEEFAC E. 



A DEMAND has for some time existed, in this coun- 
try, for a work in which should be embodied, in as few 
and plain words as possible, such explanations of the 
Principles op the Art of Landscape Gardening, as well 
as of the Practical Operations connected with it, as would 
make the subject intelligible to that very large class 
in our country who are proprietors of a portion, great 
or small, of its soil. 

To supply this demand, in part — to lay before the 
country gentleman certain simple and well-tried funda- 
mental rules, which may guide him in conducting the 
various improvements and embellishments he may desire 
to make — to disseminate a knowledge of the Art of 
Gardening among a large class of our Agriculturists, 
whom existing works have failed to reach — to assist in 
creating a more general appreciation of the art — to give 

(V) 



VI PREFACE. 

such liglit to all as will enable them, even if settled 
down in the wilderness, hy a few simple, but tasteful 
embellishments, to add beauty to their residences, or as 
will aid them, at all events, in preserving, instead of 
destroying the natural beauties of the country — these 
have been the aims of the Author, in placing before 
the public the present volume. 

The Principles of the art of Landscape Gardening, as 
practiced at the present day, have been laid down satis- 
factorily, and at some length, by those men who have 
been most eminent in its practice since the days of the 
great originators of the present style, Brown and Kent — 
such as Eepton, Loudon, Whately and others, in Eng- 
land, Sckell, in Germany, and Gabriel Thouin, in France. 
From their writings, as well as the monuments of their 
artistic skill, which remain in the Gardens of Europe, 
the Gardeners of the present day must study their art. 
They pointed out to their successors the sources whence 
they derived their ideas. They teach us not only in 
what respect to be guided by Nature, but what means 
we must use, successfully to imitate her. Their instruc- 
tions are, however, from their great diffuseness, of but 
little use to any but the professional gardener. It has, 
therefore, been the aim of the writer to present, in this 
Treatise, the choicest ideas of the leading authors, so 



PREFACE. Vll 

simplified and condensed as to form, if possible, a 
work that, being intelligible to all, will be, to a 
certain extent, a guide to the most inexperienced, in 
the formation of a correct taste. 

The requisites of taste are well described by Dr. 
Beattie, under five distinct heads, as follows: *' 1. A 
lively and correct imagination : 2. The power of dis- 
tinct apprehension : 3. The capacity of being easily, 
strongly, and agreeably affected with sublimity, beauty, 
harmony, correct imitation, etc. : 4. Sympathy, or sen- 
sibility of heart ; and, 5. Judgment, or good sense ; 
which is the principal thing, and may, not very 
improperly, be said to comprehend all the rest." 
Mankind not being universally endowed with these 
qualifications, it is evidently impossible for every man 
to be the possessor of correct and refined taste, which 
is of the first necessity for a Gardener. But it is 
both possible and expedient to place within the reach 
of all, such information as will give them some defi- 
nite ideas of the concomitants which go to make up 
a graceful Scene, or beautiful Landscape. An attempt 
to do this is made in the following pages. 

The late lamented A. J. Downing, was the first 
to bring the Art of Landscape G-ardening, as practiced 
in Europe, favorably to the notice of the American 



vm PREFACE. 

Public. By his labors, in various sections of tlie 
Union, and more especially by his excellent book on 
Landscape Gardening, which is to be found on almost 
every parlor-table the country round, he did very 
much toward disseminating, and popularizing a taste 
for Eural Embellishments. His untimely death was 
a severe loss to the Art, and to the Country. Since 
Mr. Downing's death, owing to the continued prosperity 
of the Country, the Art has made many and great 
advances, and nowhere more so than in the Great 
Mississippi Valley. Although no one has been found 
to fill the place left vacant by the lamented Downing, 
the Art has many worthy representatives, both East 
and West. Among these we will mention but one, 
AnoLPHus Strauch, Esq, of Cincinnati, to whose en- 
lightened and refined taste the West is indebted for 
some beautiful specimens of the Art to which he has 
devoted himself. 



It has been thought proper to divide this work 
into two parts: the first devoted to an exposition of 
the Theory and Practical Operations of Landscape 
Gardening, as an Art of Design and Taste: the other 
a Treatise Explanatory of its Adaptation to Pleasure 
Grounds, The Earm, and Cemeteries, etc. In order to 



PEEFACE. IX 

make it as complete as possible, coicise but explicit, 
and methodically arranged Directions for the Working 
of a Kitchen G-arden, have been added. Thronghont 
the Author has endeavored to confine himself strictly 
to the matter in hand, making his explanations and 
directions as concise and plain as the nature of the 
subject would admit. 

If he shall be able to contribute to the awaken- 
ing of a farther interest in the tasteful ornamentation 
of their Grounds, in the minds of the Farmers and 
Country Gentlemen, throughout the Union, the Author's 
most ardent wishes will be gratified. 

Cincinnati, March, 1855. 



CONTENTS. 



Dedication, 3 

Preface 5 

Contents 11 

Introduction, History, Etc 17 



PART I. 

PRINCIPLES OF THE ART. 

CHAPTER I. 

Introductory Remarks — Nature, tlie Model of the Landscape 
Gardener — Utility — Congruity — ^Difference between Land- 
scape and Picture Gardening — The Picturesque Style — 
Individual Taste, how far admitted 37 

CHAPTER II. 

Plantation — What is understood by Plantation — ^Principle 
and Uses of Planting — The Natural Growth on the Place 
to be regarded as a leading feature^ — Single Trees — The 
Advantages of Grouping in Masses 47 

CHAPTER III. 

Outlines — Shape and Character of Outlines of Groups — ^IVIr. 
Whately's Remarks — The Margin or Ascending Oblique 
Lines 52 

{ ^^ } 



j^^i CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER IV. 

Composition— Point of Connection— Eflfect produced by simi- 
lar Shapes, Leaves, and Tints of Trees— Harmony- 
Contrasts ^® 

CHAPTER V. 

Groves— Beauty of a Grove— Its Character— Single Trees- 
Detached Clumps— Flowering Shrubbery, and Flowers in 
the Scenery 64 

CHAPTER VI. 

Water — Plantation near the Water-side — Lake — Pond — 
Stream or Brook — Character of Water in the Scenery — 
Giving imaginary Extent to the Lake or Pond — Foun- 
tains — Lawn 69 

CHAPTER VII. 

On the Choice of a Situation for a House — Repton's Remarks 
— Convenience — Shade and Shelter — Shape of the Ground 
— Convex — Concave — Plane — Alterations of the Surface 
of the Ground 76 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Roads and Walks — Use and Destination of a Road — Character 
and Course — The Approach — Rockwork — Architectural 
Ornaments 84 

CHAPTER IX. 

Freedom of Views — Exterior and Interior Views — Way to 

secure them — Prospect-Tower. 90 

CHAPTER X. 

General Remarks — Sources of Pleasure in Landscape Garden- 
ing — Unity and Harmony — Scale and Proportion 94 



CONTENTS. Xlll 

PRACTICAL OPERATIONS. 

CHAPTER XI. 

Introductory Remarks — Manual Labor — Capacities of the 

Gardener — First Proceedings on the Place 101 

CHAPTER XII. 

Planting — General Rules for setting out Trees — Single 
Trees — Groves — Solid Masses — Treatment of Oblique 
Lines — Planting Evergreens — Shrubbery and Flowers — 
Soils — Tree-holes — Treatment — Transplanting large Trees 
— Preparing them l^eforehand 106 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Lawn — Sowing — Sodding — Keeping 121 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Moving Ground — Management necessary to save Labor and 

Expense — Grading — raising Eminences — Sinking Valleys . 124 

CHAPTER XV. 

Roads and Walks — Construction of Carriage Roads — Con- 
struction of Walks — Levels — Drainage 132 

CHAPTER XVI. 
Water — ^Formation of Lakes and Ponds 140 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Rockwork, composed of Natural Stones — Rockwork, in imita- 
tion of Stalactites — ^Picturesque Designs 143 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
A Plan— Working Plan— Profile 149 



Xiv CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XIX. 

List of Trees and Shrubs used in Landscape Gardening — 
Evergreens — Deciduous Trees — Climbing Shrubs — Fine 
Flowering Shrubs— Shrubs requiring Peat or Bog-Earth . . 162 



PART II. 

ORNAMENTAL IMPROVEMENTS. 

CHAPTER XX. 
Lnprovements — Comfort and Profit 171 

CHAPTER XXI. 

City Lots 176 

Figure 1 — Plan for Private Residence — City Lot 180 

Figure 2 — Double House in City 182 

Figure 3 — Residence, with Garden, occupying Half a 

Block 183 

Figure 4 — Residence, with Flower Garden, occupying 

Whole Block 185 

CHAPTER XXII. 

The Pleasure Ground 187 

Figure 5 — Suburban Residence, surrounded by Pleasure 

Ground of Two Acres' extent 195 

Figure 6 — Suburban Residence, with Pleasure-Ground 

and Vegetable Garden 197 

Figure 7 — Country Residence, surrounded by Grove of 

Forest Trees 198 

Figure 8 — House situated on Terrace — Ornamented with 

Statues, Vases, etc. — Large Lawn and Shrubbery in 

Front 199 



CONTENTS. XV 

Figure 9 — A Ground Plan, showing Three Striking 

Scenes 203 

Figure 10 — Suburban Residence, surrounded by Pleas- 
ure Ground — Parterre of Flowers in Front 205 

Figure 11 — Country Residence with Two Extensive 
Lawns, Orchard, Kitchen-Garden and Poultry- 
Yard 209 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

The Flower Garden, 211 

Figure 12 — Parterre of Flowers — Center of Trellis- 
Work 211 

Figure 13 — Flower Garden in Geometric style, with 

Fountain 215 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Culture of Flowers — Annuals best adapted for sowing in 
a Hotbed — Annuals which are best sown in the Gar- 
den — Biennials and Perennials — Bulbous Perennials — 
Tender Bulbous Flowers — Hardy Bulbous Flowers — 
Dahlias — The Rose — Greenhouse Plants 217 

CHAPTER XXV. 
Fruit-Trees — The Orchard 241 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

The Farm 247 

Figure 14 — Ground Plan of an Ornamental Farm, 

Devoted to Cattle-grazing and Tillage 251 

CHAPTER XXVII. 
Public Squares and Parks 255 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

The Cemetery 258 

Figure 15 — Plan for Cemetery 260-61 



XVI CONTENTS. 

THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. 

Remarks 268 

Aspect 270 

Shape of the Ground 271 

The Soil 272 

Manure 273 

Tillage 274 

Weeding and Cleaning 276 

Asparagus 279 

Rhubarb, or Pie Plant 281 

Artichoke. 282 

ANNUAL VEGETABLES. 

Beans 283 

Peas , 285 

Okra 286 

Tomato 287 

Egg Plant — Peppers 288 

Melons 289 

Cucumber 290 

Squash — The Pumpkin — Sweet Corn 291 

Cabbage 292 

Cauliflower 293 

Broccoli 294 

Greens — Lettuce 295 

Endive 296 

Sorrel — Parsley — Celery 297 

Radish 299 

Beet 300 

Turnip — Carrot 301 

Onion 302 

Potato 304 

The Strawberry : 307 

Forcing — ^Raising Seed 314-317 

INCLOSURES. 

Fencing — Hedge-planting 320 



PRACTICAL 



LANDSCAPE GARDENING. . 



■■^ • • » » - 



INTKODUCTION— HISTORY, ETC. 

A DESIRE to possess a spot of ground whereon to 
erect a liome, or abiding-place, lias been a ruling 
sentiment in tbe human breast since mankind first 
emerged from the nomadic state, which tradition 
assures us was the primary stage of the existence 
of our race. It is to this longing for a place, 
where might be realized, in their fullest sense and 
effect, the feelings of mutual affection and esteem 
which bind together the various individuals compos- 
ing a family circle — it is to this sentiment that 
we may ascribe the first rude ideas of a Garden ; 
for the mind which coveted ownership could scarcely, 
we imagine, refrain from the desire to improve and 

beautify this Jiome. 

2 ( 17 ) 



18 INTRODUCTION — HISTORY, ETC. 

To protect it from tlie encroaclinients of the beasts 
of the wood and field, was necessarily one of the first 
steps in the formation of a constant abiding-place. 
To supply the cravings of hunger by the raising of 
a few of the commonest fruits and vegetables, was 
probably the next. So far, we may suppose the 
rudest nations, whose habitations were fixed or sta- 
tionary, to have progressed. The next step in ad- 
vance, and the first in the art of Gardening — the 
cultivation of Flowers, Fruits, and Shrubs — more to 
please the eye by the beauty of their forms and the 
tastefulness of their dispositions, than to satisfy the 
necessities of man — this step did not, and could not 
follow, until the progress of civilization had created 
a certain taste, and consequent desire for such orna- 
mentation — and when also the increase, and more 
unequal distribution of wealth, placed it in the power 
of those in high positions to add to their state or 
consequence by such displays. 

Our first accounts of Gardens on a large scale, 
date from the period of the establishment of re- 
gal powers in the earth. That much progress was 
made in the art, even in very remote times, 
seems an undisputed fact; and it is by many au- 



INTRODUCTION — HISTORY, ETC. 19 

tliorities supposed that the Hanging Gardens of 
Nineveh and Babylon, have not been excelled by 
any displays of more modern times. In Eome, and 
Greece, too, in their palmiest days, much attention 
was paid to Ornamental Gardening, and from the 
description left us by Pliny, and other historians, 
there is no doubt that the sums lavished upon 
their Gardens by the Eomans, during the Empire, 
were not expended without due regard to taste. 

It is to be remarked that, as the first ideas 
of Gardens were in connection with the comforts 
and pleasures of home, so all nations who have 
at any time practiced gardening, have adhered to 
this idea, by endeavoring to combine utility with 
beauty, and by modifying the principles of the art, 
in all cases, to the climate and country in which 
they lived ; thus, under the burning skies of 
Asia, we find stately groves of magnificent shade- 
trees, beneath whose shelter their indolent posses- 
sors souo'ht relief from the extreme heat; while in 
the more genial climes of Greece and Italy, Gar- 
dens were enriched with costly statuary, abounded 
in pleasure houses and other architectural displays, 
and were surrounded and planted with low trees 



20 INTRODUCTION — HISTORY, ETC. 

and slirubbery, to sliacle without excluding the light 
or sun; and among our rude ancestors, the Gauls 
and Britons, gardening was applied principally to 
vast inclosures, preserves for the game, which they 
delighted in hunting. 

In the same manner the Gardens of more mod- 
ern nations show evidences of similar adaptations 
of taste to the incidents of climate and country. 
In Asia, the Gardens of to-day are hut fac-similes 
of those existing thousands of years ago, in Italy, 
when the conquering hordes of Asia effectually 
destroyed the art of gardening, with the other foot- 
prints of civilization, not leaving a trace standing, 
by which to recognize its former grandeur. The 
style of art in the seventeenth century differed but 
little, in its leading features, from that during the 
Eoman empire. Cardinal D'Est, to whom the revi- 
val of the art in Italy is principally due, con- 
structed his celebrated Gardens upon the site of 
those of the Emperor Adrian (the splendor of which 
history has made known to us), and many of the 
vases, statues, etc., of the Eoman Garden were 
here brought to light, and re-applied to their former 
uses. "Balustraded terraces of masonry; magnifi- 



INTRODUCTION — HISTORY, ETC. 21 

cent fiights of steps; arcades and arcliitectural grot- 
toes; lofty clipped hedges, with niches and recesses, 
enriched with sculpture, were the components of the 
Italian style of gardening. 

The Italian style was the first introduced, upon 
the revival of the art in Europe, and soon obtained 
in every part of the continent, as well as in Eng- 
land. The French altered it materially to suit their 
cooler climate, and more level country. Less fond 
of elaborate architectural displays, they eschewed the 
terraces and arcades of Italy, supplying their places 
with long avenues of trees, and grass, and flower- 
plots of intricate geometrical forms. Le Notre, 
gardener to king Louis XIV, was the master spirit 
of this style, and his models and plans were copied 
all over Europe, and are, to this day, the truest 
representations of the French Style. 

When Holland became the great emporium of 
the commerce of the w^orld, the art of Landscape 
Gardening assumed there also . an important stand, 
and there was formed another modification of the 
Italian, called the "Dutch Style." It consisted of 
sloped terraces of grass, regular shapes of land and 



22 INTRODUCTION — HISTORY, ETC. 

water, formed by art, and adorned with trees in 
pots, or planted alternately, and closely clipped, to 
preserve the ntmost regularity of shape. His style 
abounded in the quaint and grotesque, which made 
it a favorite in many parts of Europe. It was 
introduced into England by King William HI, and 
prevailed there for about half a century. The 
Dutch, beside originating a peculiar style in gar- 
dening, have the greater merit of introducing to 
Europe the first specimens of many strange species 
of trees, shrubs, and flowers, principally from their 
East Indian possessions. Some of these have become 
the rarest and most beautiful ornaments of our Gar- 
dens and greenhouses. They also acquired a great 
name for superiority in the cultivation of bulbs, 
and in this department they are yet unsurpassed. 
In England, various styles of gardening have 
been the fashion at different times; the Italian was 
the first to be imitated there. This was succeeded 
by the French and Dutch styles. To all these suc- 
ceeded what is now called the "Natural Style,'^ 
which has, in turn, been favorably received and 
imitated by every nation of Europe, and is now 



INTRODUCTION — HISTORY, ETC. 23 

fully recognized tliere, and in this country, as unit- 
ing in itself all the qualities demanded by the most 
correct and refined taste. 

Brown and Kent, the great leaders and origin- 
atoi of this style, taught that nature must be the 
only model of the gardener. They observed that in 
the English Gardens, Nature, distorted at great labor 
and expense, had lost her power of pleasing with 
the loss of her novelty — that the most elaborate 
productions of art resulted in naught but the most 
tiresome sameness of forms and fio-ures. Distrusted 
with the universal stiffness and monotony, they 
boldly struck out a new path in the art. They 
were not long in finding admirers and patrons, and 
great changes were made in the Gardens and 
grounds of the nobility, under the direction of 
Brown. The straight lines and stiff terraces of the 
ancient style, were succeeded by flowing lines, ex- 
tensive, smooth lawns, and verdant slopes ; the formal 
avenues and geometrical clumps, in which trees had 
been arranged, were superseded by pleasing curves, 
and an irregularity of grouping, which relieved the 
eye and beautified the scene. 

During Mr. Brown's life, these improvements, 



24 INTiiODUCTION — HISTOllY, ETC. 

carried on under liis own direction, were character- 
ized by moderation, and a discriminating, good taste, 
wliicli spared many of the beauties of the old style. 
His successors, who were mainly his working men 
and gardeners — possessed of his ideas without his 
taste in their application — his zeal without his dis- 
crimination, like many other reformers, mistook de- 
struction for improvement, and proceeded with a 
blind fury, to cut down the noblest avenues of forest 
trees — the growth of centuries — merely because 
they had been arranged in ''straight lines," which 
they were taught to abhor. They fell into the mis- 
taken notion, that greatness of extent would produce 
greatness of character — that vastness was, in effect, 
beauty; their works therefore soon showed naught 
but an immeasurable extent of naked lawns, tedious 
lengths of belts and drives — a useless breadth and 
tiresome meandering of roads, and in short, an arti- 
ficial irregularity, which showed as well poverty of 
conception as baldness in execution and eff'ect. Ob- 
stinately bent upon carrying out their one idea, 
they sought to produce the requisite impression of 
vastness, on grounds of limited extent, by leading 
the approaches to the house a tedious round over 



INTRODUCTION — HISTORY, ETC. 25 

the whole estate. Such follies and extremes could 
not but attract the ridicule of all men of correct 
taste. Various Landscape Painters of note, in Eng- 
land, came to the aid of the gardeners. These 
desired to see landscapes arranged with a view 
simply to their effect in a picture, casting aside 
the connection which should exist between beauty 
and utility. They ignored the fact that a land- 
scape in Nature, and a landscape in a picture are 
very different things, and that consequently Land- 
scape Painting and Landscape Gardening must ever 
remain distinct arts.* 

The painters insisted upon a style which is 
called the Picturesque or Chinese Style, in which 
the wildness and abruptness of the natural woods 
was not only imitated but exceeded — losing sight 
of the fact that, in bringing these qualities of 
wildness and abruptness, in immediate contact with 
the habitations of civilized man, the unity of the 
whole was undoubtedly destroyed. They condemned 



^'An explanation of fhe principal points of diflfercnce between 
the two, will he found in the chapter on " the Principles of the 
Art." 



26 INTRODUCTION — HISTORY, ETC. 

the smootli lawns, and meandering walks of Brown, 
as strongly as the stiff parterres and terraces of 
the Italian and Dutch styles. The scenes of wild 
nature, with a foreground composed of briers, stones, 
and perhaps a mouldering log — this was their 
hmu-ideal of a landscape. 

As a sample of this taste, Eepton speaks of 
the grounds of Mr. Knight, a painter and author, 
and strong advocate of this style, who placed near 
his mansion large fragments of stone, thrown irreg- 
ularly among briers and weeds, to imitate the 
foreground of a picture. The "Picturesque Style" 
was found to be but little adapted to extensive 
grounds, or to be exclusively employed anywhere. 

To Humphrey Eepton, Esq., an English gentle- 
man of education and standing, although not origi- 
nally a professional gardener, belongs the credit of 
first combining all that was excellent in former 
styles, and adapting this union or combination to 
the Gardens and Parks of England. He founded 
what may be called "Kepton's Style," which, says 
Loudon, "may be considered as consisting of the 
union of an artistic knowledge of the subject, with 
good taste and good sense." Eepton says of him- 



INTRODUCTION — HISTORY, ETC. 27 

self, tliat he "labored to establish the fact that 
true taste, in Landscape Gardening, as in other 
polite arts, is not an accidental effect operating on 
tlie outward senses, but an appeal to the under- 
standing, which is able to compare, to separate, 
and to combine the various sources of pleasure 
derived from external objects, and to trace them to 
some pre-existing causes in the structure of the 
human mind.^' To Mr. Eepton's genius and labors 
may be, with justice, ascribed much of the preva- 
lence of good taste in the art, as practiced at the 
present day. His works are consulted and studied 
as authorities, by all professional gardeners, and 
the principles laid down by him remain undisputed. 
He gave the name of Landscape Gar defiling to this 
branch of the art. The labors of Repton extended 
from the year 1783 to his death, in 1818. His 
last work on gardening was published in 1816. 

The "Natural Style'' early found its way from 
England, to the various countries of Europe, where 
it was adopted, with various modifications and im- 
provements. Louis Von Sckoll, a German, who 
studied in England the masterpieces of Brown, 
Kent, and Chambers, introduced the style into 



28 INTRODUCTION — HISTORY, ETC. 

Germany. He labored not only to copy, but to 
improve, and many of liis works, in German are at 
tliis day considered masterpieces. He paid particu- 
lar attention to tlie plantation of wood and forest 
scenery, and in tbat branch proved himself supe- 
rior to all liis cotemporaries. 

A growing taste for Botany and Horticulture, 
and the introduction of many foreign plants, has 
given rise, in England, to a school, or style, to 
which has been given the name of Gardenesque. Its 
characteristic feature is the display of the beauty 
of trees and other plants, individually. Loudon, 
says of it: "According to the 'Gardenesque School,' 
all the trees and shrubs planted, are arranged in 
regard to their kinds and dimensions; and they 
are planted at first, at, or as the}^ grow, are thinned 
out to, such distances apart, as may best display the 
natural form and habit of each.'' This style may 
be said to have always existed in Botanic Gardens, 
and is only followed elsewhere from the natural 
desire of gardeners and amateurs in botany, to 
display to the best advantage their trees and 
plants. 

Such is a short sketch of that branch of the 



INTRODUCTION — HISTORY, ETC. 29 

art of "Gardening/^ coming properly under tlie 
heads of Taste and Design. 

Horticulture, the A7't of cultivating the various 
plants found in Gardens, has made much greater 
improvement, within the last century, than its more 
theoretical partner, "Landscape Gardening,'' and in 
this practical age we may expect this to continue 
to be the case. If we have made large advances 
in the methods of raising and cultivating the plants 
indigenous to our soil, yet greater have been made 
in Europe, in the cultivation of exotics, and green- 
house plants. The immense wealth centered in the 
hands of the privileged classes of society, in Eu- 
rope, has given an impetus to this branch of hor- 
ticulture, which can only be adequately supported 
by such classes; but the Horticulturist and Botanist 
are indebted to the widespread commerce of the 
present day, principally, for the advantages they 
enjoy. 

It is known that during the Eoman empire 
many of the wealthy Romans lavished vast sums 
upon the cultivation of exotic plants. But Rome, 
with all her magnificence, was trodden beneath the 
feet of the barbarian hordes of Asia, and it was 



30 INTRODUCTION — HISTORY, ETC. 

not until the discovery of the passage to the Indies, 
in the fifteenth century, that a taste for the culti- 
vation of exotics . was revived. The Dutch, for a 
long time, were noted for the splendor of their col- 
lections, brought at that time from every land, and 
every clime by their ships, which visited the remot- 
est corners of the earth, in pursuit of trade. They 
are still noted for their tulips, hyacinths, and other 
flowers and plants, which yet command a high 
price in the flower markets of the world. India 
and America have added a vast number of beau- 
tiful plants to the lists of the Gardener and Flo- 
rist, and are yet yearly contributing no small share 
to the decoration of the Gardens of Europe; and 
we may hope that the vast unexplored regions of 
South America, where vegetation is so luxuriant, 
will yet add more, and perhaps, greater beau- 
ties, to the collections of the Botanist and Plorist. 
In England, the culture of greenhouse plants is 
at present carried to the greatest extent and per- 
fection. In no other country in the world, is the 
art of Gardening carried on to the same extent 
and magnificence, at the present day, as in Eng- 
land. This is to be ascribed, not so much to the 



INTRODUCTION — HISTORY, ETC. 31 

possession by the English as a people of a supe- 
rior taste for Horticulture, but to the immense 
wealth which is placed in the hands of the priv- 
ileged orders of Society. In France and Ger- 
many, the same good taste prevails, but the means 
for making a similar display do not exist. In 
America, newly settled, and where, thanks to our 
republican institutions, wealth and real estate are 
more equally distributed, the art of ''Landscape 
Gardening" has not yet, and will not, perhaps, for 
a long series of years, reach the eminence to which 
it has attained in long-settled Europe; yet a strong 
and growing taste for rural improvements obtains 
throughout the Union, and in the Eastern States may 
already be found very many villas and country 
residences, which will vie with anything of the 
kind to be found in Europe, in the display of taste, 
although probably not in magnificence. 

This taste for rural improvement seems, how- 
ever, to be, in a great measure, confined to that, 
as yet, small class of our citizens who have both 
wealth and leisure to devote to the object. It is 
much to be wished that a proper taste and desire 
for rural embellishments might be awakened among 



32 INTRODUCTION — HISTORY, ETC. 

our people generally, and more particularly among 
agriculturists. A very great proportion of the 
citizens of tlie Union are the possessors of a por- 
tion of land, of greater or smaller dimensions, vary- 
ing from the narrow town lot to the hroad farm 
of hundreds or perhaps thousands of acres. It is 
highly desirable that these should become inter- 
ested in the cultivation of a proper taste for rural 
embellishment — and should at least be possessed 
of the knowledge that, be their place ever so small 
or confined, they can, by a proper management of 
the advantages of situation, etc., and at very lit- 
tle expense, add materially to its beauty and (what 
may be of more importance to some) to its cash 
value. Our country possesses many and great ad- 
vantages over the older or longer-settled lands of 
Europe, to facilitate the operations of the Land- 
scape Gardener. Her forests, the growth of cen- 
turies, still adorn the natural landscape, and need 
only the light but skillful touches of a tasteful 
hand, to make the view surpass, in grandeur and 
beauty, all that the care, training, and art of Eu- 
rope have been able to produce. A just apprecia- 
tion of natural beauties would do much to arrest 



INTRODUCTION — HISTORY, ETC. 33 

the heartless and objectless course of destruction 
which now prompts a great part of our agricul- 
tural community to cut down, remorselessly, the 
noblest trees of the forest — and for what ? — for 
firewood — or to make a clearing before their houses 
(in which, afterward, to plant some miserable locusts), 
or forsooth, to square off the corner of a corn- 
patch. Thus many beautiful scenes of primitive 
forest growth, which now fall before the ax of the 
woodman, might be preserved without injury either 
to individual or agricultural interests. A profes- 
sional Landscape Gardener, in traveling through 
many parts of our country, and particularly the West, 
can not fail to see that it is, as yet, a much more 
important work to preserve old, than to create new 
beauties. It is to be hoped that the groAving 
good taste of our farmers will lead them to the 
same opinion. 

The American, and more particularly the Amer- 
ican farmer, is as yet too much of a utilitarian. 
Beginning life with ^little or no capital, his labor 
is too severe to permit him to care for more than 
the suhstcmtialities of life. When he has finally 
settled down in comfortable circumstances, and has 



34 INTRODUCTION — HISTORY, ETC. 

time and taste for embellisliing his grounds a little, 
lie lias still to contend with a lack of assistance 
for His work. G-ardeners are not mncli more plenty; 
and finally comes in again the bugbear, " expense,'' 
to frighten him from his purpose. He thinks that, 
after all, it is of but little use — that it will be 
an outlay for which there will be no return — that 
the old cabin, with the stables in front, and the 
orchard behind, is, after all, very comfortable ^ and 
so the whole subject is dropped. 

So little is yet understood, in some parts of 
this country, of the comparative value of a beauti- 
ful piece of ground, great or small in extent — so 
little of the true theory and practice of Landscape 
Gardening, that property owners are often frightened 
at the price asked by a competent man, for his 
services in laying out a place ; and oftener yet, 
disgusted and discouraged at the work of an incom- 
petent one, who has been employed because willing 
to labor cheaper. An efiicient Landscape Gardener 
should be a man of ^ucation and taste, one whose 
experience has been gained by an examination of 
the masterpieces of the art in Europe and this coun- 
try, and whose general qualifications are such as to 



INTRODUCTION — HISTORY, ETC. 35 

make him a companion for any man. It can not 
be expected tliat such men will work for the wages 
of a day laborer. And, when laying out a work 
of taste, it is surely more profitable to employ such 
a one, than to have a work, intended to adorn, 
spoiled by one whose mind is not equal to his task. 
The American taste for extra-mural burying- 
grounds, has opened among us a wide field for the 
display of Landscape Gardening, and promises to 
become a principal means of introducing and foster- 
ing, in this country, a correct taste in such matters. 
Several of the Cemeteries attached to our larjxer 
cities, as Mt. Auburn, near Boston, and Greenwood, 
near New York, have been laid out by men of 
prominence in the art, and after the most approved 
rules, and for beauty of situation, and tastefulness 
of design, vie with anything of the kind in Euro2)e. 



PART I. 



PRINCIPLES OF THE ART. 



CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 

" Whate'er its essence, whate'er its name, 
Whate'er its modes, this still in all the same; 
' T is proper congruity of parts combined. 
Must please the senses and satisfy the mind." 

It is in the works of Nature the Landscape 
Gardener finds the examples he is to copy. It 
behooves him, therefore, in order to acquaint him- 
self with the principles upon which he is to work; 
to examine attentively the effect produced upon the 
mind by the various groupings, tints and forms of 
plants — the pleasing irregularities of the earth's 
surface — the verdant meadows and slopes — the bab- 
bling brooks, quiet fields, grand mountain scenery, etc. 

Nature has placed before our eyes an endless 

( 87 ) 



38 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

change of objects, organic and inorganic, differing 
one from tlie other, in form, character and location. 
The most casual observer will find, in these objects, 
an increasing variety of expression — an ever-vary- 
ing change — in their effect upon his feelings or 
temperament. 

To analyze the causes of the various changes 
in the arrangement of natural objects — to separate 
and examine the different shades and shapes, forms, 
tints and groupings — is to study Nature, as the 
Landscape Gardener should. To be able to see at 
a glance the beauties and deformities of a natural 
landscape — to add to the first and take away the 
last, by the skillful but invisible touches of art — 
to arrange an artificial landscape in such a manner 
as to produce the effects of the choicest scenes of 
Nature — hightening these again by the efforts of 
Art — this is the business of the Landscape Gardener. 

An absence of formality, of abrupt changes or 
violent breaks or contrasts, is the marked feature 
of the natural vegetation. As we find nowhere, as 
a rule, abrupt changes in the soil, as from clay to 
sand, from mountainous to low or marshy, so neither 
do we see anywhere any intermixture of vegetation, 



INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 39 

of species differing radically from one anotlier in 
structure or organization. All nature's changes are 
gradual, lier lines flowing and graceful. Sown by 
the winds, lier seeds germinate only in tlie soils 
best suited to their wants. Thus, with each soil 
is found its peculiar form of vegetation; as one 
changes, so does the other. The preservation, in 
an artificial landscape, of this unity and congruity, 
together with the combination, to as great degree 
as possible, of tlie useful with the beautiful, should 
be the principal aims of the gardener. 

Improvements are made for various purposes. 
The Grounds more immediately surrounding the 
hab-ltation of man, are laid out with a view to the 
convenience and pleasure of their possessor. As 
these grounds are necessarily of limited extent, an 
imitation in them of the grander works of Nature, 
is plainly out of place, as being out of proportion 
to the whole, and diminishing, by their vastness, 
the effect of other, otherwise, agreeable objects. 
Thus, should a cottage be placed in the midst of 
a clump of tall maples, or hickories, or oaks, a con- 
trast would be created between the two chief 
objects, the trees and the house, which would give 



40 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

the latter the appearance of an insignificant hovel, 
while the former would show naught but bare, 
unsightly sticks. Immediately adjoining the habi- 
tations of man, everything should assume its char- 
acter, and not only be, but appear to be, dressed 
and cultivated. In such situations, neat gravel- 
walks and smooth grass-plots, and flowering plants 
and shrubs, trained and distributed by art, are 
perfectly in character. 

The Park, of greater extent, and not so inti- 
mately connected with the mansion, may, and should 
partake of the vastness and grandeur of Nature's 
own works. While the grounds surrounding the 
house must be ornamented with a view to conform- 
ity or unity of appearance, and size of the dwell- 
ing, the park gives the gardener a wider range for 
the development of his ideas. " The chief beauty 
of a park consists in uniform verdure ; undulating 
lines contrasting with each other in variety of 
forms; trees so grouped as to produce light and 
shade, to display the varied surface of the ground; 
and an undivided range of pasture. The animals 
fed in such a park, appear free from confinement, 
at liberty to collect their food from the rich herb- 



INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 41 

age of the valley, and to range nncontroUcd to the 
drier soil of the hills." 

^ Public Gardens, laid out only for pleasure, re- 
quire again a different style, abounding more in 
architectural display, and differing materially from 
both park and private ground. Cemeteries, again, 
are to be differently improved, although partaking 
much of the nature of parks. Thus must the 
gardener study, not only the intrinsic advantages 
and defects of a place, but also its fitness for the 
purposes to which it is to be applied, in order 
that he may succeed in giving to it that greatest 
charm, " the right thing in the right place.'' 

While the gardener's work of ornamentation is 
performed by a grouping together of various beau- 
tiful and striking objects, he has ever to bear in 
mind their effect when combined. It is very evident 
that any number of objects may, individually, be 
very beautiful or striking, yet taken collectively, 
their effect may be marred or destroyed by reason 
of their failure to harmonize with each other — 
thus maintaining a forced individuality of character 
where all should be harmonious and congruous. 

The gardener must, iherefore, posses^^ the faculty of 
4 



42 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

foreseeing what will be the effect of certain com- 
binations or groupings — to view with a painter^ s eye 
the landscape he is creating. Yet it is important 
that he should not fall into the error, somewhat 
common, of supposing that what would strike the 
painter as a beautiful scene for a picture, is also 
likely to be a fine scene in nature. The following 
explanation, by Bepton, of the distinction between 
a natural landscape and one in a picture, shows so 
well what should be the principal considerations of 
the gardener, in his bird's-eye view, that we quote it : 
" The difference," says Repton, " betwixt a scene 
in nature, and a picture on canvas, arises from the 
following considerations : First, The spot from whence 
the view is taken is in a fixed state to the painter; 
but the gardener surveys his scenery while in mo- 
tion ; and from different windows in the same front, he 
sees objects in different situations; therefore, to give 
an accurate portrait of a gardener's improvement, 
would require pictures from each separate window, 
and even a different drawing at the most trifling 
change of situation, either in the approach^ the 
walks, or the drives about each place. 

" Secondly, The quantity of view, or field of vision 



INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 43 

in nature, is much greater than any picture will 
admit. 

" Thirdly, The view from an eminence, down a 
steep hill, is not to he represented in painting, 
although it is often one of the most pleasing cir- 
cumstances of natural landscape. 

" Fourthly, The light w^iich the painter may 
bring from any point of the compass, must, in 
real scenery, depend on the time of day. It must 
also he remembered, that the light of a picture 
can only be made strong by contrast of shade; 
while in nature, every object may be strongly illu- 
minated, without destroying the composition or dis- 
turbing the keeping. 

" Lastly, The foreground, which, by framing the 
view, is absolutely necessary to the picture, is often 
totall}^ deficient, or seldom such as a painter chooses 
to represent ; since the neat gravel-walk, or the 
close mown lawn would ill supply the place, in 
painting, of a rotten tree, a bunch of docks, or 
a broken road, passing under a steep bank cov- 
ered with briers, nettles, and ragged thorns."''' 

^'Sketches and Hints on Landscape Gardening, by H. Repton, Esq., 
originally published in 1795. 



44: PKACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

A non-appreciation of the objections here set out, 
led to the error of ornamenting the grounds sur- 
rounding the mansion, in what is called the j;/c- 
turesque style. This style, in its fullest sense, is 
only suited to certain conformations of ground, and 
should he used very sparingly. It is not consid- 
ered either suitable or convenient for the vicinity 
of the homestead.'"^' 



0(« jij^g Picturesque. This word has, of late, excited considerable 
interest and controversy ; but the word, like many others in 
common use, is more easy to be understood than defined; if 
it means all subjects capable of being represented in a ]3io- 
ture, it will include the pig-sties of Moreland, as well as the 
filthy hostels of Teniers and Ostade; but the absurdity of rep- 
resenting all that is visible, without selecting what is rdost 
beautiful, can not be better exemplified than by the following 
fact: One of our most eminent Landscape Painters, was desired 
to make a portrait of a gentleman's country-seat; he saw the 
place during a land-flood; and when the whole valley was cov- 
ered by vapor, he made a beautiful picture of a fog, after the 
manner of Vernet ; and thus painted an atmospheric effect, Avhen 
he should have painted a landscape. In like manner, a beau- 
tiful woman, represented during a fainting fit, may display 
great ingenuity in the artist; but surely this is sickly pictu- 
resqueness. The subject represented by Salvator Rosa, and our 
English Mortimer, are deemed picturesque, but are they fit 



INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 45 

And here we come to another matter demand- 
ing the consideration of the gardener, viz: How far 
may individual taste be consulted? As there is an 
infinite variety in the aspects of nature, and in 
the natural shape of the earth's surface, it has 
been found impossible to lay down any fixed rules 
by which to lay out all, or any given number of 
places. But there are two considerations which 
should never be lost sight of. These are, utility, 
and unity, or harmony and fitness of parts. The 
introduction into a scene or landscape, of anything 
not in keeping with its main features (a thing 
often done by professed gardeners, who mistake 
tawdry for taste), is an inexcusable piece of snob- 
bishness, which finds its parallel only in the igno- 
rance of mock gentility, wdiich, aping the manners 
of those above it in station, succeeds only in mak- 
ing itself ridiculous. For this there is no excuse. 

In selecting a style of ornamentation, attention 
should be paid to the leading features of the sur- 

objects to copy for the residence of man, in a polished and 
civilized state? Certainly not." — E€pton''s Fragments on Theory and 
rradice of L<i.mhoipp Gardening. 



46 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

rounding country, so as to preserve a certain har- 
mony witli its general appearance, else will the 
hand of Art be too plainly visible. 

The adoption of one style or school of garden- 
ing, as better than all the others, and there- 
fore to be employed under all circumstances, is 
much to be condemned. The gardener should fami- 
liarize himself with the various Styles, to enable 
him to attain the same object by different means. 
In this way he would be able to adopt the style 
or school best adapted to the situation, climate or 
circumstances in which he is placed, or to adopt 
and combine such parts of different styles as may 
best attain, in any given locality, the object in view. 
Art and Nature would thus be more harmoniously 
combined, and improvements effected of a more dis- 
tinct and interesting character. 



CHAPTER II. 



PLANTATION. 



By the term Plantation, we understand that part 
of Garden scenery composed of Trees, Shrubs, Flow- 
ers, etc., whether planted by man, or springing up 
naturally, and made use of by the Gardener in his 
work of improvement. Beside its importance in 
improving and ornamenting grounds, Plantation is 
of use in concealing boundaries, thereby creating 
an impression of vastness of extent ; in hiding from 
sight disagreeable views, such as outhouses, stables, 
sheds, etc., and in giving privacy to the house and 
surrounding grounds. In the formation of Plan- 
tations, the gardener must keep in mind the har- 
monies and contrasts presented by the forms and 
tints of the various plants, and the effects of light 
and shadow, hight and distance, upon the various 

groups and single specimens. 

(47) 



48 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING." 

In commencing an improvement, the gardener 
should pay much attention to the trees and shrubs 
already existing upon the place. The forest trees 
used for ornamental purposes are of slow growth, 
requiring years, and sometimes centuries to attain 
their prime and beauty. If such already exist 
upon the grounds they can scarcely be prized too 
highly, and should be taken duly into consideration 
in the formation of the plan. Sickly, or deformed, 
or broken trees should not be spared, but the ax 
should be used very sparingly, and never except in 
the execution of such principles of the art, as can 
not be sacrificed without detracting from the beauty 
of the whole. Our country has been so favored 
by the bountiful hand of Nature, that in many 
places the gardener will find abundant materials 
ready to his hand, and needs but to form his plan 
in accordance with the ruling features of the grounds, 
and to apply a few discriminating touches of his 
art, to create a scene far surpassing, in grandeur, 
the noblest works of art alone. 

The hand of art must be indiscernible in Plan- 
tation, which should be in close imitation of Nar 
ture's best ^vorks, and only recommending itself 



PLANTATION. 49 

beyond the natural Landscape, by tbe presence of 
trees and shrubs not indigenous to the soil, and the 
absence of aught to displease the eye, or detract 
from the harmony of the whole, creating thus a 
superior elegance of arrangement. 

The great art in Plantation is the harmonious 
union of different parts, each of which has a place 
or purpose in the general arrangement. The gar- 
dener has to pay regard to outward forms — to shape 
of trees, to form of leaves, to their different colors, 
their hight, the rapidity of their growth, compara- 
tively — and thus judge as to their general harmony. 

A single tree presents to the eye a mass of 
foliage, boughs and leaves, the various parts of which 
harmonize together in form and color. It is this 
harmony which gives pleasure to the mind, and 
which we call its heauty. We find that a mass 
or group composed of a number of trees of the 
same species, while harmonizing in form and color, 
will present much more vividly to the mind of the 
beholder the various peculiarities or beauties of out- 
line or color of the species, than will a single spe- 
cimen. Harmonizing easily and pleasantly, also, in 
their growth and shade, the peculiar conformation 



50 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

of their leaves and boughs, and their colors, it is 
evident that masses of vegetation consisting entirely 
of one family will give m.ore pleasure than single 
specimens, and more yet than a confused intermix- 
ture of various kinds. Thus a striking effect is 
produced by groups of trees or shrubs whose bark 
is of a bright and distinctive color, such as the 
Gold-barked Willow (yellow), the Dogwood (red), 
the Acer negundo, and Sassafras (green). These 
peculiarities would be lost sight of were they scat- 
tered singly among other trees. Masses of Koses, 
Lilacs, Jasmines, Snowballs, Catalpas or Ked-buds, 
present a beautiful appearance, while any one may 
see in our common garden-spots, how tasteless a 
view is presented by an indiscriminate gathering 
together of flowers and shrubs. 

" No group of trees can be natural in which 
the plants are studiously placed at equal distances, 
however irregular in their forms. Those pleasing 
combinations of trees which we admire in forest 
scenery, will often be found to consist of forked 
trees, or at least of trees placed so near each 
other that the branches intermix, and by a natu- 
ral effort of vegetation the stems of the trees them- 



PLANTATION. 51 

selves are forced from tliat perpendicular direction 
whicli is always observaWe in trees planted at regu- 
lar distances from each other. No groups will 
therefore appear natural unless two or more trees 
are planted very near each other.'' To produce 
this effect, two or more trees should sometimes he 
planted in the same hole, their roots being cut 
so as to bring them nearer together. 



CHAPTER III. 



OUTLINES. 



The form of the outlines of masses, or groups 
has a marked effect upon the scenery. A flowing, 
or straight line will give a flat, unmeaning ap- 
pearance to a piece of woods, whereas a rugged, 
broken outline, letting light fall into the deep 
recesses, and creating strong lines and contrasts 
of light and shade, will give to the same wood 
an appearance of depth, and grandeur, and natu- 
ral freedom. The inlets, or incisions into the 
line of woods, may he varied in depth, or inten- 
sity, in order to make them appear the work of 
nature. On reviewing the whole, should any one 
of these incisions not have a sufficiently marked 
appearance, single trees, planted before it, will af- 
ford the requisite relief. The different parts of 

plantation, in a Garden, taken as a whole, should 

( •^- ) 



OUTLINES. 53 

appear in a freely broken line, as the different 
parts of a single mass — never in a straight line. 

A distinguished English writer on Gardening/- 
speaks so much to the point, on the subject of 
Outlines, that we are tempted to give his obser- 
vations. 

"The outline of a wood," says Mr. Whately, 
'' may sometimes be great, and always be beauti- 
ful ; the first requisite, is irregularity. That a 
mixture of trees and underwood should form a 
long straight line, can never be natural; and a 
succession of easy sweeps, and gentle rounds, each 
a portion of a greater or less circle, composing, 
altogether, a line literally serpentine, is, if possi- 
ble, worse : it is but a number of regularities, 
put together in a disorderly manner, and equally 
distant from the beautiful, both of art and of 
nature. The true beauty of an outline consists 
more in breaks than in sweeps; rather in angles 
than in rounds ; in variety, not in succession. 

" The outline of a wood is a continued lino, 
and small variations do not save it from the 

** Whately, "Observations on Modern Gardening." London; 
1801. 



54 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

insipidity of sameness. One deep recess — one bold 
'pl'oniinence — lias more efiPect tlian twenty little 
irregularities. That one divides the line into 
parts, but no breach is thereby made in its unity; 
a continuation of wood always remains; the form 
of it, only, is altered, and the extent is increased. 
The eye, which hurries to the extremity of what- 
ever is uniform, delights to trace a varied line 
through all its intricacies — to pause from stage to 
stage, to lengthen the progress. 

" The parts must not, however, on that account, 
be multiplied, until they are too minute to be 
interesting, and so numerous as to create confu- 
sion. A few large parts should be strongly dis- 
tinguished in their forms, their directions, and 
their situations ; each of these may afterward be 
decorated with subordinate varieties, and the mere 
growth will occasion some irregularity^ On many 
occasions more will not be required. 

"Every variety in the outline of a wood must 
be a "prominence, or a recess; breadth, in either, 
is not so important as length to the one, and 
depth to the other; if the former ends in an 
angle, or the latter diminishes to a point, they 



OUTLINES. 55 

have more force than a shallow dent, or a dwarf 
excrescence, how wide soever: they are greater 
deviations from the continued line which they are 
intended to hreak, and their effect is to enlarge the 
wood itself. 

*' An inlet into a wood seems to have been cut, 
if the opposite points of the entrance tally, and 
that show of art depreciates its merit; but differ- 
ence only in the situation of those points, by bring- 
ing one more forward than the other, prevents the 
appearance, though their forms be similar. 

" Other points which distinguish the great parts 
should, in general, be strongly marked; a short 
turn has more spirit in it than a tedious circuity ; 
and a line broken by angles, has a precision and 
firmness which, in an undulating line, are wanting. 
The angles should indeed be a little softened — 
the rotundity of the plant which forms them is 
sometimes sufficient for that purpose — but if they 
are mellowed down too much, they will lose all 
meaning. 

*' Every variety of outline hitherto mentioned, 
may be traced by the undenvood alone, but fre- 
quently the same effect may be produced, with more 



66 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

ease, and mucli more beauty, by a feiv trees, stand- 
ing out from the thicket, and belonging, or seem- 
ing to belong to the wood, so as to make part 
of its figures." 

Particular attention must be paid to hight, in 
finishing the margin of any tract of plantation. 
The body of the wood being completed, the next 
effort of the gardener must be, to complete the 
effect of the irregular, broken Outlines (described 
in a preceding section), by bringing into connec- 
tion with them plants of smaller growth. And 
here he must look to Nature once more. With her 
work before him, and intent on producing through- 
out his landscape a natural variety, he will at once 
see the impossibility of bringing his outlines regu- 
larly and gradually down, as the plant-grower would 
his flower-pots on the staging of a greenhouse. 
Lower growing trees and shrubs, must be grouped 
in front of the margin, and at such distances as 
not to destroy, by their proximity, the bold effect 
of the entire mass. Arranged with a strict regard 
to the rules of shape and color, they will fall natu- 
rally into groups, some higher, some lower, here 
in broader and there in narrower masses. Here 



OUTLINES. 57 

the bold ujDriglit trunk of the Oak, bearing aloft 
its majestic round head, will be partly shown above 
the tops of the lower growth; there the heavy 
limbs of the Elm droop down, until they form a 
solid mass of foliage, in connection with the lower 
growing trees. Everywhere this lower growth must 
stand sufficiently thick to hide from view the bare 
trunks of the taller trees, which otherwise will have 
the appearance, in the distance, of a plantation of 
straight sticks. Foliage thus continued, and gradu- 
ally and variedly brought down, will be found to 
add a peculiar graee and charm to the appearance 
of the whole, which will be found likewise in the 
natural forest. Masses which may be viewed from 
different j^oiiits, should be treated as above directed, 
on all the fronts which may be open to view. In 
plantations forming boundaries, or skirting a road 
or walk, of course they need only be thus treated 
on the margin of the walk or drive. 



CHAPTER IV. 

COMPOSITION. 

The beauty of Garden scenery depends very 
much on correctness of composition, i. e., joining of 
parts. As the painter aims, by a skillful blend- 
ing of colors, to give greater effect to his work, 
so, in like manner, must the gardener endeavor 
skillfully and tastefully, and above all, naturally, 
to join together the various groups, and to pre- 
serve harmony by a tasteful arrangement of their 
different tints, shades, sizes, etc. In plantations on 
a large scale, the points of connection between the 
different groups, must be formed in the manner 
nature adopts, namely, a gradual change from one 
form of vegetation to the other. In works on a 
smaller scale, this rule, however, would only lead 
to confusion, and the plan generally adopted in 

such cases is, to let the different groups run into, 

(58) 



COMPOSITION. 59 

or dovetail into one another, wliicli gives a strik- 
ing effect to tlie bold, massive lines of trees, where 
the change occurs. 

Different species of trees, present to the eye 
very various forms, both of trunk, boughs, and 
leaves. Thus, the most careless observer can read- 
ily distinguish an Oak from a Pine, or a Locust 
from a Beech. In laying out plantations, it has 
been found convenient to divide or classify trees 
according to their shapes, as being either round- 
headed, or oblong-headed, or spiry-topped. Among 
these, again, we find a great variety in the forms 
of the leaves. 

Thus, the Beech and Maple have roundish leaves ; 
the Willow has oblong; the Catalpa is distinguished 
for its very large leaves, and the Walnut and 
Locust for what is styled the pinnate form. Again, 
the leaves differ in color, some having a clear shade 
of green, as the Sugar-maple, the Catalpa, the 
Plane-tree, Locust, and Honey-locust, etc., etc.; others 
having a whitish caste, as the Swamp-maple, the 
Silver-poplar, and Bohemian Olive ; and others, again, 
covered with a dark-green foliage. 

Thus, by the aid of the various shapes and 



60 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

colors of tlie plants at tlie disposal of the gardener, 
he is enabled to make his landscape either grave 
or gay, beautiful or picturesque, harmonious or con- 
trasted. By connecting groups of the round-topped 
trees, such as Oaks, Beeches, Elms and Maples, 
whose appearances naturally harmonize together, we 
create a softness and fullness of form and outline, 
which is called beautiful. The same may be done 
with trees having oblong, or spire-like tops, creating 
more picturesque effect. Groups whose members 
possess foliage of similar appearance only, may also 
be connected together, and create a beautiful sym- 
metry or harmony. Of these we may mention the 
broad-leaved kinds : Plane-trees, Swamp-maples, Pop- 
lars, Lyriodendrons. Of the ovate-leaved kinds, Elms, 
Beeches, Cherries, etc. Of the pinnate leaved. Wal- 
nut, Hickory, Ash, Locust, Mountain-ash, etc. And 
lastly, of the various species of Pines, Firs, Juni- 
pers, etc. 

A universal harmony, however, would soon prove 
tiresome and monotonous, and it is therefore neces- 
sary to enliven the scene by occasional abrupt and 
marked changes or contrasts. The preservation of 
a proper proportion between harmony and contrast. 



COMPOSITION. 61 

is what gives expression and life to scenery, pre- 
venting the beantifnl from becoming monotonous, 
and restraining the picturesque from wild confusion. 
And here it is necessary to say, that a truly pic- 
turesque scene can not be produced, as too many 
imagine, by an indiscriminate, hap-hazard mixture 
of different species of vegetation ; this only makes 
confusion. In a landscape, intended to be pictu- 
resque, the individuality of each species of tree 
introduced, should be preserved, and its peculiarities 
of shape and color brought into notice by planting 
in groups of single species, as before mentioned ; 
care being taken at the same time to place the 
various species and groups in such juxta-position, 
as to produce, by their dissimilarities, the contrasts 
which make up the picturesque. It will be appa- 
rent to any one, that in this way, by preserving 
the individual traits of each plant or species, the 
contrast will be much stronger than by an indis- 
criminate and tasteless arrangement. 

It may also be stated, as a general rule, in 
regard to the positions to be assigned to the va- 
rious colors of leaves, in the general arrange- 
ment of the Landscape, or Wood, that the darker 



62 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

tints of green giving^ out a heavier and more solid 
appearance, sliould be placed in tlie background. 
This will liave tlie effect of giving greater dis- 
tinctness of expression to the lighter colors, which 
are then placed in front. Yet this rule is not 
without exceptions, as light and dark tints are 
oftentimes placed on the same range, when the 
nature of the woods, or a desire to produce a par- 
ticular effect, renders it desirable. 

We next come to that of the higJit and growth 
of trees used in plantation. This is a very 
important consideration with the Landscape Gar- 
dener. On his knowledge of the (comparative- 
ly) fa-st or slow growth of trees and shrubs, 
and their comparative hight when grown, depends 
very much of the future beauty of his plantation. 
The labors of a Landscape Gardener are not for 
his day only. They may in fact never arrive at 
the perfection designed for them, until long after 
his time. It is of the highest importance there- 
fore, that he should be able not only to see the 
present or immediate effect of his improvements, 
but also to foresee their effects when, in the course 
of time, his plantations shall have attained their 



COMPOSITION. 63 

full growth and development. Otherwise, it is evi- 
dent, he will not be able to so arrange his works 
as to make them present, constantly, an appear- 
ance in accordance with good taste, and correct 
rules. Should the gardener, in laying out any 
heavy or solid mass of timber, plant indiscrimi- 
nately together, fast and slow-growing trees, he will 
have a broken picture for many years, than which 
nothing presents a poorer appearance. The top 
lines of plantations should present a continual vari- 
ety of shape ; round-headed trees ranging along in 
undulating lines, until relieved by the lofty heads 
of a group of oblong-headed trees, rearing their 
tops above their neighbors ; these last being, in 
turn, contrasted with trees of another shape, or per- 
haps of a different color of foliage. It should be 
the aim of the gardener to produce in the out- 
lines of the tops as great and effective a variety as 
possible, and this, if successfully done, will add 
much to the beauty of a grove, belt, or wood of 
any description. 



CHAPTER V. 

GROVES. 

A BEAUTIFUL Grove of trees has many attrac- 
tions, and adds mucli to the appearance of a place. 
As a place of resort for the family, where they 
may retire from the heat of summer, and sitting 
beneath the canopy of leaves and boughs, listen to 
the sweet carol of birds, the Grove is one of the 
pleasantest components of a country residence. 

A Grove shows to most advantage when placed 
along a gentle slope or hill-side, where the eye 
can at once take in its extent and beauties, and 
where likewise the noble trees of which it may 
consist will be brought prominently in view. Where 
there already exists, on the grounds to be improved, 
a grove, or collection of trees, planted there by 
Nature, the gardener will not fail to take advan- 
tage of them. They should not be disturbed, unless 
(64) 



GROVES. 65 

very much interfering with the levels of the ground 
or the lines of walk. If the outlines can be improved, 
this may be done by a careful use of the ax, but 
it is often more advisable to plant additional trees 
on the margins or projections, to give greater appa- 
rent depth to the wood, than to make the inci- 
sion deeper by cutting down trees. 

In planting a Grove, the improver should be 
careful to avoid any regular recurrence of partic- 
ular trees,'"' nor should they be set at regular 
distances apart, but scattered irregularly over the 
surface — here wider apart — there closer — here two 
or three together — yonder an open space, admit- 
ting the sun to the grass, and making a bright 
spot to contrast the surrounding shade. None but 



*^As an illustration of the difference between tliat irregu- 
larity which is monotonous, and that which makes true and 
tasteful variety, Repton gives the following : "If ten clumps be 
composed of ten different kinds of trees each, they become so 
jnany things exactly similar ; but if each clump consists of the 
same sort of trees, they become ten different things, of which 
one may be a group of Oaks, another of Elms, another of 
Chestnuts, or of Thorns, etc." — Repton on Landscape Gardening, 
p. 334. g 



66 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

straiglit-growing, wide-spreading trees should be used 
in planting a Grove, that we may have an arch 
of foliage formed overhead which will effectually 
protect from the rays of the sun. 

It is worth while to observe here, that when 
it is desired to make a Grove of a dense forest 
or thicket, care should he taken, in opening out, 
not to cut away too much at once, as trees which 
have been used to grow up closely surrounded by 
others, will not bear the exposure to light and air, 
except they are gradually accustomed to it. Care- 
lessness in the observance of this will not fail to 
destroy the trees intended to be preserved. 

Single trees, or detached groups of two or more 
trees, are often placed to much advantage along 
the line of approaches to the house, and if beau- 
tiful in themselves and appropriately situated, add 
much to the effect of the Landscape. Single trees, 
or open groups, also have a fine effect when scat- 
tered on the side of a steep hill, because they may 
be made to mark the degree of its declivity, and 
the shadows of the trees are very conspicuous. 

A few Maples or other fine foliaged trees, 
planted behind the dwelling, and showing their 



GROVES. Q7 

tops above the roof, when approached from the 
front, also have a beautiful effect, beside offering 
a pleasant shade to that part of the house con- 
tiguous to them. Evergreens are found very appro- 
priate as detached trees, or in small groups, set at 
a distance of twenty or twenty-five yards in front 
of a mass of deciduous trees. Their form and 
color contrast admirably here. 

Flowering Shrubbery and Flowers, are choice gifts 
of Nature to the Landscape Gardener. With them 
he diversifies the milder parts of his landscape, 
and beautifies the grounds more immediately con- 
nected with the dwellings of man. Like trees, 
flowers should be planted in masses of similar spe- 
cies and colors. This will give much more variety, 
as well as greater strength and expression to their 
beauty, than if planted in wild confusion. These 
groups and masses, while distinctly separated on the 
lawn, should by no means preserve any regularity 
in shape or in distance apart, which would impart 
a stiffness to the whole. Let them be of flowing 
forms, and thrown at irregular distances on the 
surface, regard being had to the various points 
from which they may be viewed. Along the banks 



68 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

of a little murmuring In-ook, flowers are peculiarly 
appropriate, adding beauty and grace to tlie land- 
scape, as well as enlivening it. Planted in front 
of masses of shrubbery and trees, to continue the 
descending line to the ground, Flowers, and Flowering 
Shrubs will give a finished appearance to the scene. 
Here they may even be allowed to extend them- 
selves along the ground in large masses, and their 
bright colors will be found to produce a striking 
effect. In Flower Gardens, too, the flowers will be 
found to show to greatest advantage by being 
planted in masses, consisting each of a separate 
species. Thus, a group of Salvias (red); one of 
White Petunias; another of Verbenas — the whole 
backed by the green foliage of a belt of Shrub- 
bery — can not fail to awaken the admiration of 
even the most tasteless. 



CHAPTER VI. 

WATER. 

Op Plantation by the Water-side. — Proper 
plantation along the shores of Lakes, Ponds, Streams 
or Brooks, adds very much to the beauty of scenery. 
Plantation must, however, here vary much according 
to the character given naturally to the Landscape, 
by the shape or conformation of the ground, either 
natural or artificial. Thus, the shores of a lake 
may rise abruptly from the water's edge, in tall 
cliffs, or crags. In such a situation, which is 
romantic or picturesque in a high degree, the rocks 
should be covered with moss and ferns, interspersed 
with such plants as are usually found in scenes 
of that description, as Ehododendrons, Savinas, etc. 
Of trees, Evergreens are the most suitable to such 
scenes. Where the shore overhangs the water a 
single Weeping Willow, its long drooping boughs 

(69) 



70 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

trailing near the water, often has a liiglilj pictur- 
esque and pleasing effect. Lombarcly Poplars are 
also suitable to be placed at the water, to form a 
connection with the body of the surrounding woods. 
In spots where the shores of the lake are less 
abrupt and decline gradually toward the water's 
edge, tall, heavy trees, as the Ash, and the larger 
species of Evergreens, whose images will be reflected 
by the water, will be most suitable. A view from 
the opposite side, of a large group of such trees, with 
an occasional opening forming a vista at the end 
of which may be seen other woods, such a view will 
awaken the most pleasing feelings in the breast 
of the beholder. 

For spots where the shore is flat or nearly on 
a level with the water, Willows, Alders and Plane- 
trees are suitable, when interspersed with smaller 
plants. These last mentioned trees are peculiarly 
fitted to grow near water, flourishing there natu- 
rally, and to great advantage. 

In flowing water, as streams and brooks, we do 
not so often find occasion for the picturesque. When 
it is needed, however, as in the neighborhood of 
waterfalls, the suggestions made in relation to lakes 



WATER. 71 

will answer. The general effect of a small stream 
or brook, in a landscape, is to give it softness 
and quietness. This we help most effectually, by 
planting along the borders of the stream, low-grow- 
ing bushes, as Willows, Viburnums, Hazels, etc., 
and interspersing these with occasional groups of 
higher forest trees, to give more effect or expres- 
sion to the scene. The little promontories formed 
by the curves in the stream, should be planted 
thickly with heavy-looking trees, to give an idea 
of strength or ability to resist the flow of water, 
and of force to make the stream change from its 
direct course. These clumps, seen at some dis- 
tance, make a beautiful appearance. Care should 
be taken to give a natural appearance to the plan- 
tation along the bank of a Eiver. To this effect, 
it is well not to confine the plantation too strictly 
to the bank of the stream, but to let it occa- 
sionally extend back on the meadow or lawn. Such 
an arrangement will prevent the scene from becom- 
ing monotonous and tiresome to the eye. When 
a stream takes its course through a dense forest, 
or wood, it exchanges its lively, or quiet and 
peaceful character, for the solemn grandeur imparted 



72 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

to it by the dark, overhanging foliage of the for- 
est. To prevent this characteristic from going to 
extremes, it is well to open up the wood in spots, 
having in its place, pleasant grass-spots, spaces on 
which the sun may cast his cheerful rays. Should 
the character aud conformation of the surrounding 
country be such that a highly picturesque scene 
would not be out of keeping, it is often found 
advantageous to lead the stream over an artificial 
bed of Kockwork, or down a Precipice, when the 
noise and turmoil of the foaming waters will help 
to create an effect picturesque in a very high 
degree. 

Water is the life of scenery in all landscapes, 
and should be introduced in garden scenery where- 
ever possible. The Lake, by its broad expanse of 
water, gives a peculiar appearance of grandeur and 
importance to the scenery. One side of its shores 
should always be open, only bounded by the ver- 
dant meadow. The scenery surrounding the Pond 
is generally impressed with an idea of solitude — 
its shores may be surrounded by shrubbery, droop- 
ing down in the water. 

The lake may, by a proper arrangement of its 



WATER. 73 

bounds, be made to appear much larger than it is 
in realit}^ This deception is often necessary in 
artificial waters, where these are of but limited 
extent. To this end, those parts of the banks or 
shore, over wliich the eye glances to distant parts 
of the scenery, should be kept low, nearly at the 
level of the water. On such places, no trees or 
buildings should be visible, to make all comparison 
of size and distance entirely impossible. A single 
lofty tree, if seen in its full grandeur, in such 
a spot, would at once detect the small extent of the 
water. In some places, the end of the deeper 
recess may be hidden by trees, and drooping shrub- 
bery, planted on the foremost prominences. Thus 
the water is lost sight of, under the masses of 
foliage, and may be supposed to extend farther 
back than it really does. No walk should approach 
too near to such spots, else the deception is easily 
detected. The bounds or margin of a piece of 
water, in natural scenery, should appear as the 
genuine production of Nature ; no artificial form, 
especially no straight line should be visible. It 
must be a line of irregular recesses and promi- 
nences, which the taste and understanding of the 



74 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

gardener has to accommodate to the shape of ground, 
extent of water, and all other prevailing circum- 
stances. 

The hounds of a Stream, in like manner, should 
appear natural, widely differing from those of a 
canal ; the opposite shores should never he strictly 
parallel. Its course, commanding the impression of 
power, should not so frequently change its direc- 
tion,* as the meandering Brook, which passes under 
various curves, through the meadow. The curves 
of the stream should he in strict proportion with 
its hreadth and course. • 

A hrook having a fair supply of water, may 
be led on a bed of wider extent, thus forming a 
stream ; yet great precaution is necessary to make 
a deception of this sort successful. Deception, if 
discovered, loses all its value, and should hut spar- 
ingly he made use of. 



Fountains have their most appropriate place 
among the more artificial portion of the Garden 
scenery, as in the Flower Garden, or on terraces 
near the house. They may also he introduced in 
picturesque scenery, hut must appear there more as 



WATER. 75 

the works of Nature than of Art, being left with- 
out their usual artistic embellishments. 



The Lawn. — The Lawn is that part of Gar- 
den scenery planted in grass. Lawn and water 
form the light parts of the landscape, while trees 
and shrubs make up the shade. A smooth, clean, 
closely-cropped Lawn, adds very greatly to the beauty 
and variety of the landscape, and consequently, in 
natural, or Landscape Gardening, the Lawn is a 
very important component, forming, as it were, the 
groundwork of the scene. 

On places or grounds of limited extent, where 
cattle can not be admitted, the Lawn must be kept 
trimmed by the scythe and roller. With due atten- 
tion, it Avill make a beautiful appearance. In large 
Parks, the lawn or meadow is used for pasture, or 
hay is cut from it. Cattle, feeding upon an ex- 
tensive forest-skirted lawn, give life and animation 
to a scene which, otherwise, would often become 
monotonous or insipid. 



CHAPTER VII. 

ON THE CHOICE OF A SITUATION FOR A HOUSE. 

No department of tlie Landscape Gardener's art, 
seems so easily settled, yet in no otlier are so many 
errors committed as in this ; and this for the very 
reason that every one fancies himself competent to 
determine so simple a matter. Repton remarks very 
truly: "Not only men of taste fall into this error, 
but the carpenter, the land-steward, or the nursery- 
man feels himself equally competent to pronounce 
on this subject. No sooner has he discovered a 
spot commanding an extensive prospect, than he 
immediately pronounces that spot the true situation 
for a House; as if the only use of a mansion, 
like that of a prospect-tower, was to look out of 
the windows." 

The same author remarks further : " " However 



"■Repton's "Landscape Gardening," p. Gl. 
(76) 



CHOICE OF A SITUATION FOR A HOUSE. 77 

various opinions may be on the clioice of a situ- 
ation for a House, yet there appear to be certain 
principles, on which such choice out to be founded ; 
and these may be deduced from the following con- 
siderations : 

" First. The natural character of the surrounding 
country. 

" Second. The style, size and character of the 
house. 

" Third. The aspects of exposure, both with re- 
gard eo the sun, and the prevalent winds of the 
country. 

"Fourth. The shape of the ground near the House. 

"Fifth. The views from the several apartments ; and 

"Sixth. The numerous objects of comfort — such 

as a dry soil; a supply of good water; proper space 

for offices, with various other conveniences essential 

to a mansion. 

"It is hardly possible to arrange these six con- 
siderations according to their respective weight or 
influence, which must depend on a comparison of 
one with the other, under a variety of circumstances ; 
and even on the partiality of individuals in affix- 
ing different degrees of importance to each con- 



78 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

sideration. Hence it is obvious that there can be 
no degree of sameness in any two designs con- 
ducted on principles thus established; since in every 
different situation some one or more of these con- 
siderations must preponderate ; and the most rational 
decision will result from a combined view of all the 
separate advantages or disadvantages to be fore- 
seen from each." 

Other conveniences being alike, shade and shel- 
ter should never be sacrificed to freedom of view, 
in the selection of a situation for a House. Mr. 
Refpton says of this : " After long experiencing the 
many inconveniences to which lofty situations are 
exposed; after frequently witnessing the repentance 
and vexation of those who have hastily made choice 
of such situations, under the flattering circumstances 
of a clear atmosphere and brilliant sky ; after 
observing how willingly they would exchange jDros- 
pect for shade and shelter, and after vainly look- 
ing forward to the effect of future groves, I am 
convinced that it is better to decide upon the situa- 
tion of a House, when the weather is unfavorable to 
distant prospects, and when the judgment may be 
able to give its due weight to every circumstance 



CHOICE OF A SITUATION FOR A HOUSE. 79 

which ought to be considered in so material an 
object — that the comforts of habitation may not be 
sacrificed to the fascinating glare of a summer's 
day/' 

The suggestion most difficult of apprehension, in 
the selection or adaptation of a building site, is 
that pertaining to the 

Shape of the Ground. — Upon this, therefore, 
we shall ofter a few observations to guide the inex- 
perienced improver. " All natural shapes of ground 
must necessarily fall under one of these descrip- 
tions, viz : Convex, Concave, Plane, or Inclined Plane. 
Except in very romantic or picturesque situations, 
all the rooms on the principal floor ought to range 
on the same level. There must also be a plat- 
form, or certain space of ground, with a gentle 
descent from the House, every way. If the ground 
be naturally convex, or what is generally called a 
knoll, the size of the House must be adapted to 
the size of the knoll." For were the House too 
large for the knoll, it is evident that, while a 
smaller one would have a sufficiency of platform, 
the large one would stand on the brink of a steep 
bank, or fall of ground, rendering the approaches 



80 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

unpleasant. Strict regard must therefore be paid, 
in this instance, to the preservation of a proper 
proportion. Hillocks or knolls may sometimes be 
formed by Art, but this is but little done in this 
country. This will show the impossibility of mak- 
ing up a plan or design for a House, without a 
previous acquaintance with the situation or shape 
of the ground on which it is to be built. 

" Where the shape is naturally either concave, 
or perfectly flat, the House would not be habitable 
unless the ground sloped sufficiently to throw the 
water from it. This is often effected, in a slight 
degree, merely by the earth that is dug from the cel- 
lars and foundations. But if, instead of sinking the 
cellars, they were to be built upon the level of the 
ground, they may afterward be so covered with earth, 
as to give all the appearance of a natural knoll, the 
ground falling from the House to any distance where 
it may best unite with the natural shape." Should 
there be any small hillocks near the proposed site, 
they may be used to effect this purpose. This 
expedient can also be used in an inclined plane, 
falling toward the House, where the inclination is 
not very great; but it must be observed of the 



CHOICE OF A SITUATION FOR A HOUSE. 81 

inclined plane, that the size of the House must 
be governed in some measure by the fall of the 
ground. 

" But another shape of ground is also to be 
considered — thus it generally happens that a knoll 
is longer one way than another, or it may even 
extend to a natural ridge, of sufficient length for 
a long and narrow house. But such a house 
must be fitted to the ground, for it would be 
absurd in the architect to place it either diago- 
nally or directly across such a ridge. The same 
holds good of the inclined plane, which is, in fact, 
the side of a valley, whose general inclination must 
be consulted in the position of the building; thus 
a square house would appear awry, unless its fronts 
were made to correspond with the shape of the 
adjacent ground. 

" It may be observed, in conclusion, that on a 
dead flat or plain, the principal apartments ought 
to be elevated, as the only means of showing the 
landscape to advantage. Where there is no ine- 
quality, it will be very difficult to unite any arti- 
ficial ground with the natural shape; it will in 
this case be advisable either to raise it only a 



82 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

very few feet from tlie ground, or to set the house 
on a basement story. But whenever a place abounds 
in natural inequalities, even though the ground 
near the House should be flat, we may, without 
impropriety, venture to create an artificial knoll."* 

The shape of the ground must be carefully 
examined, before plans for improvement are sug- 
gested. In many cases, the ground will allow to 
be altered, at comparatively small expense, to suit 
the wishes of the gardener. We will mention, here, 
only a few instances, where an alteration of the 
natural shape of the ground may be advisable. All 
small eminences and hollows, often caused by the for- 
mer use of the ground, are to be brought down and 
filled up, to restore the ground to its natural form. 

The surface of a flat, or nearly level ground, 
may be greatly improved, by raising eminences 
and forming easy valleys; thus creating an undu- 
lating surface, far superior to a dead flat one. 

An abruptly broken ravine may be changed to 
a beautiful valley, by filling up its bottom with 
the ground taken off" the highest banks. 



^■' Reptoti — Sketches and Hints on Landscape Gardening, p. 67. 



CHOICE OF A SITUATION FOR A HOUSE. 83 

If a natural valley is cut in two parts by a 
knoll or a ridge, it is often advisable to remove 
such an eminence entirely. 

The introduction of roads and walks in the 
scenery, often requires considerable alteration of the 
surface of the ground. Every location having its 
peculiar shape of ground, it is impossible to lay 
down any certain rule, how far the alteration of 
the natural surface may be carried ; it is only to 
be remarked, that wherever material improvement 
can be made with little expense, it is well to 
undertake it. Alteration of the shape of ground, 
on a large scale, is, in most cases, of more ex- 
pense than of actual effect, and not advisable. 
The undulating, rolling ground, covered with ver- 
dant turf, is undoubtedly of most advantage to 
erect garden and park scenery. On an abruptly 
broken terrace, the picturesque style will find its 
most suitable adaptation. 

Whatever alteration the ground may undergo — 
however costly the operations of moving ground 
may be — all interference of art must be strictly 
concealed ; when completed, the whole must appear 
the production of nature — only. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

ROADS AND WALKS. 

A Road or Walk, being as much an artificial 
work of convenience as a house or bridge, it should 
plainly appear as such, and not be hid away in 
a ditch, or concealed by other means, which will 
not, after all, succeed in removing it entirely from 
view, or if they do, will, at the same time, de- 
stroy its utility. A Road or Walk should be firm, 
of a breadth adequate to the use to which it is 
to be put;- and the degree of curve regulated by 
the breadth. It is to be borne in mind, that 
Walks are objects of convenience — that therefore 
they must have an object — and this object must 
not be lost sight of; nor is it allowable to lay 
out Walks out of a mere fanciful desire, or with- 
out an object. Neither its course, nor any bend 

or inequality in it must be objectless, but must 
(8i) 



' ROADS AND WALKS. 85 

be justified by the shape of the ground, by its finil 
destination, or b}^ objects along its line. In a Eoad 
or AValk, especially if it passes through a wood or 
plantation, a second bend should never be visible. 
The degree oi curve, in a Walk, therefore, depends, 
in some degree, on its width. For instance, look- 
ing along a narroAv Walk, a curve may be hidden 
from our view, which would be plainly seen, were 
the Walk broader. 

A Eoad or a Walk should recommend itself 
by a graceful, sweeping line. A line partially 
straight, sweeping, or a segment of the circle, is 
contrary to good taste, yet, nevertheless, often found 
in Gardens. In highly picturesque, or wild scenes, 
the Walks should partake of the leading features. 
They may be rougher, narrower and more abruptly 
bend in such situations. Where a Walk separates 
into two, the two new lines should diverge in dif- 
ferent directions, rather than, by their new course, 
give rise to an impression that they are to re-unite. 
Where a Walk joins another, it should be at acute 
angles, rather than forming a right angle. The 
angle formed by the divergence of two Walks or 
Roads, should be planted thickly, to conceal the 



86 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

points or direction of the divergence. Eoads cal- 
culated to be accessible to carriages, should have 
no sharp or abrupt bends, as such are very apt 
to be driven over by the coachman. 

The approach from the public Eoad to the house, 
either carriage Eoad or simple Walk, is the most 
important on the premises. Of the rules and prin- 
ciples which should guide the gardener in the con- 
struction of approaches, Repton has spoken so much 
to the point, that we have seen fit to subjoin his 
directions. He says : " Many improvers seem to 
have mistaken the most obvious meaning of an 
approach, which is simply this — A Eoad to the 
House. If that Eoad be greatly circuitous, no 
one will use it when a much nearer is discovered ; 
but if there be two Eoads of nearly equal length, 
and one be more beautiful than the other, the man 
of taste will certainly prefer it. The requisites to 
a good approach may be thus enumerated : 

" First. An approach is a Road to the Hmise, 
and to that principally. 

" Second. If it is not, naturally, the nearest Eoad 
possible, it ought, artificially, to be made impos- 
sible to s'o nearer. 



ROADS AND WALKS. 87 

" Third. The artificial obstacles which make this 
Koad the nearest, ought to appear natural. 

" Fourth. When an approach quits the high-road, 
it ought not to break from it at right angles, or in 
such a manner as robs the entrance of importance ; 
but rather at some bend of the public Eoad, from 
whence a lodge or gate may be more conspicuous, 
and where the high-road may appear to branch 
from the approach, rather than the approach from 
the high-road. 

"Fifth. After the approach enters the Park, it 
should avoid skirting along its boundary, which 
betrays the want of extent, or unity of property. 

" Sixth. The House, unless very large, and mag- 
nificent, should not be seen at so great distance 
as to make it appear much less than it really is. 

" Seventh. The House should be, at first, pre- 
sented in a pleasing point of view. 

"Eio^hth. As soon as the House is visible from 
the approach, there should be no temptation to quit 
it — which will ever be the case, if the Koad be 
at all circuitous — unless sufficient obstacles, as water, 
or inaccessible ground, appear to justify its course." 

To these directions we will onlv add. that the 



88 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

approach to a House, should be made, by proper 
plantation, to partake of the character of the House 
itself, and of the adjoining grounds. Thus an 
appearance of grandeur may be given it, by the 
presence of lofty forest trees, under whose umbra- 
geous foliage the visitor may stop to view the 
scene. Groups of flowers, appearing at intervals, 
on the Eoad-side, will also give life and animation 
to the scene. 



ROCKWORK, when in its proper place, on the 
romantic shores of a Lake or Brook, or amoug other 
broken and highly picturesque scenery, is highly 
appropriate and effective. Wherever introduced, how- 
ever, the hand of art should be carefully concealed, 
and the work rendered natural in itself, as well 
as in its harmony with surrounding objects. 



Architectural Ornaments, such as Summer- 
houses, Temples, etc., as well as Statues, are ad- 
missible, more especially in grounds which are 
themselves laid put in an ornamental manner. It 
requires a correct and practiced taste to superintend 
the distribution of such objects in a Garden, as 



ARCHITECTURAL ORNAMENTS. 89 

however beautiful the objects may be in themselves, 
if placed in ungraceful positions, they will destroy 
the appearance of the whole scene. More discrim- 
ination is required in the adaptation of ornaments 
of this kind to a place, than in any other part 
of the gardener's duty. Too richly or highly orna- 
mented, it will appear gaudy — too plain will argue 
poverty — and to be out of place will betray igno- 
rance. In matters of this kind, nothing should 
be attempted, without being carried out in the most 
perfect manner possible. 
8 



CHAPTER IX. 

FREEDOM OF VIEWS. 

Exterior Views or Prospects, are HigUy desi- 
rable, wlien the scene is enlivened by the mani- 
fold works of Nature, awing by their grandeur, or 
softening and delighting by their calm beauty. 
Although the gardener can not expect to rival 
Nature, in the grandeur or extent of the prospects 
he introduces, yet he has it in his power to aid 
her, by various devices. Thus, while spreading out 
before the eyes, at one place, a View or Prospect 
abounding in grandeur and majesty, we so arrange 
plantation, that it may be divided, and parts of 
it shown from other points, awakening curiosity, 
and keeping alive the attention. 

As an extensive prospect is much to be prized, 
care must be taken by the gardener, to arrange 
his plantation in accordance with this feature. In 

(90) 



FREEDOM OF VIEWS, 91 

many places, a tree, by its prominent situation, 
will hide a beautiful scene. Again, a clump or 
group, sbuts out from the eye the most exten- 
sive prospect. The gardener must, therefore, ex- 
amine where will be the most striking Views, both 
to the outside and the inside of the boundaries, 
and open his plantation in accordance. Views from 
Gardens differ in this, from those from a prospect- 
tower, that while in the latter the view is of 
unbounded extent, and the eye roams uncontrolled 
over the country, as far as vision extends, neces- 
sarily taking in deformities with beauties, in Gar- 
den Views, we are able to direct and control the 
eye in a great measure, and therefore create beau- 
ties on a minor scale, which, by being more 
forcibly brought to the attention by the greater 
confinement of view, will impress often more favor- 
ably than the view of an entire country from the 
prospect-tower. Points for Views should be selected 
with great care, and only a matured judgment 
direct where openings should be made. In Plan- 
tation, the growth and hight of trees must be 
taken into consideration, in regard to their future 
effect upon desirable Prospects. Thus, trees which, 



92 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

when planted, were perfectly unobjectionaWe, miglit 
in a few years, when full-grown, materially inter- 
fere with the finest Views. The openings left 
or made for distant Views, should never have the 
appearance of a straight line or channel. In 
placing masses, or cutting openings, while attention 
is given to the view to he produced, we are not 
to lose sight of the relative appearance and con- 
nection of the different masses of plantation. 

In creating Views or Prospects, therefore, the 
gardener has the opportunity to deceive by creat- 
ing a false impression as to the extent of his 
grounds; and this it is necessary to take advantage 
of when looking to freedom of view within the boun- 
daries. While arranging for freedom of view with- 
out the boundaries, we have the choice, in many 
cases, of most extensive and majestic prospects, which 
we can present to the eye in the most pleasing man- 
ner. Within, on the contrary, we have generally 
but few scenes upon which to work, and of these 
the gardener makes the most, by presenting them 
from different points of view, and creating a variety 
of forms and views, which will interest and charm as 
well as give the requisite impression of extent. To 



FREEDOM OF VIEWS. 93 

arrange, therefore, the various points of View in 
such a manner as to present an ever-changing 
combination of scenery; to keep up the interest by 
a constant revelation of new beauties ; to raise the 
curiosity and give play to the imagination by an adroit 
management of the termination of walls, or leading 
the mind to suspect the existence of more beyond — 
and by means of all this, to give to the arrangement 
of the grounds the charm of novelty, must be the 
study of the improver. 



CHAPTER X. 

GENERAL REMARKS. 

Mr. Eepton, who has very closely and ably inves- 
tigated the causes Avhich operate to produce vari- 
ous effects, in the Landscape Gardener's art, has 
given us the following as the principal " sources 
of pleasure in Landscape Gardening:'' 

"L Qongruity: Or a proper adaptation of the 
several parts to the whole ; and that whole to the 
character, situation, and circumstances of the place 
and its possessor. 

" IL Utility : Which includes convenience, com- 
fort, neatness, and everything that conduces to the 
purposes of habitation with elegance. 

*' III. Order : Including correctness and finishing. 

"IV. Symmetry: Or that correspondence of parts 
expected in the fronts of buildings, particularly 
Grecian. 

(94) 



GENERAL REMARKS. 95 

"V. Picturesque Effect: Which furnishes the 
Garden with breadth of light and shade, forms 
of groups, outline, coloring, balance of composition, 
and occasional advantage from roughness and decay, 
the effect of time and age. 

*' VI. Intrkojcy : Which has been defined to be 
that disposition of objects, which, by a partial and 
uncertain concealment, excites and nourishes curi- 
osity. 

"VII. Simplicity: Or that disposition of objects 
which, without exposing them equally to view at once, 
may lead the eye to each by an easy gradation, 
without flutter, confusion, or perplexity. 

*' VIII. Variety. 

"IX. Novelty: Which although a great source of 
pleasure, is most difiicult and dangerous for an 
artist to attempt, as it is apt to lead him into 
conceits and whims, which lose their novelty after 
the first surprise. 

"X. Contrast: Which supplies the place of 
novelty by a sudden and unexpected change of 
scenery, provided the transitions are neither too 
frequent nor too violent. 

"XI. Continuity: This seems evidently to be 



96 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

a source of pleasure, from the deliglit expressed 
in a long avenue, and the disgust at an abrupt 
hreak between objects that look as if they ought 
to be united. 

"XII. Association: This is one of the most im- 
pressive sources of delight; whether excited by 
local accident, as the spot on which some public 
character performed his part; by the remains of 
antiquity, as the ruin of a cloister or castle ; but 
more particularly by that personal attachment to 
long-known objects, perhaps indifferent in them- 
selves, or the favorite seat, the tree, the walk, or 
the spot endeared by the remembrance of past 
events. Such partialities should be respected and 
indulged, since true taste, which is generally attended 
by great sensibility, ought to be the guardian of 
it in others. 

" XIII. Grandeur: Consisting either in great- 
ness of dimensions, extent of prospect, or in splendid 
and numerous objects of magnificence. The desire 
for grandeur, leads to the very common error of 
mistaking extent for beauty, in scenery. 

"Xiy. Animation: Or that pleasure experienced 
from seeing life and motion ; whether the gliding 



GENERAL REMARKS. 97 

or dashing of water, the sportive play of animals, 
or the wavy motion of trees." 

Uniformity of style or character, and harmony 
or proportion of parts with the whole, which we 
understand to be the meaning of the first of the 
** sources of pleasure,^' mentioned by Mr. Eepton, 
is also one of the most important. It is often 
mistaken for symmetry, or the correspondence of 
similar parts, which produces a dull monotony, 
instead of the pleasing variety of a Landscape in 
which this harmony and uniformity are kept up. 
A lack of harmony and proportion will not fail 
to make a place look ridiculous. Thus we some- 
times see, in a pleasure-ground, flowers, trees and 
ornamental shrubs, mixed indiscriminately with patches 
of corn or cabbage. Or again, the writer of this 
has seen a Landscape made up of graceful plan- 
tation, a fine lawn, and finely-curved and sweeping 
lines of walks, harshly cut into by a straight ave- 
nue of formal Eed Cedars. Who would not see 
here a lack of understanding, as well as taste ? 
Again, it should be borne in mind, that however 
beautiful an object may be in itself, if it is out of 
place in the scene, its beauty will not save it from 



98 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

being offensive to the eye of taste. Thus, insert- 
ing a mass of rockwork in the midst of a smooth 
lawn, or surrounding an ancient castle by a grass 
field, or placing a pond on a hill-side, would be 
errors which the most common-place observer would 
detect. 

But beside this harmony or relative fitness, we 
have an additional consideration, called Scale, or 
Comparative Proportion. It is an axiom in Gar- 
dening, that " objects are great or small only hy 
comjparisan,^' or as they have a reference to other 
objects, with which they are liable to be com- 
pared. As an example or illustration, place a 
small cottage alongside of a church or mansion- 
house, and the first will look smaller than it 
really is, while the last appears larger, from the 
comparison with its diminutive neighbor. So, also, 
let a cottage be fronted by a group or clump 
of tall Elms, and while the trees look tall and 
bare, the importance, as well as apparent size of 
the cottage will be much diminished. Let the 
same cottage be backed by a few lower growing 
trees, whose tops will just be visible over its roof, 
from the front, and it will be found to add vastly 



GENERAL REMARKS. 99 

to the apparent size and importance of tlie build- 
ing. So, too, in judging of the extent of a lawn 
on which cattle are feeding ; the cattle in the dis- 
tance appear smaller than they really are, and by 
their apparent size we estimate the extent of the 
lawn. Mr. Kepton gives an instance in point, of 
the application of this principle. He says : "At 
Hurlinghame, on the Thames, the lawn in front of 
the house was necessarily contracted by the vicin- 
ity of the river, yet, being too large to be kept 
under the scythe and roller, and too small to be 
fed by a flock of sheep, I recommended the in- 
troduction of Alderney cows, only (a very small 
variety of the cow), and the effect is that of giv- 
ing imaginary extent to the place, which is thus 
measured below a true standard ; because, if dis- 
tance will make the animal appear small, so the 
distance will be apparently extended by the small- 
ness of the animal." Again, the fine appearance 
of a group of noble oaks may be totally destroyed 
by their being overtopped by some other higher 
tree, as an Elm in their midst, or at their back, 
making them appear as diminutive bushes. All 
this the gardener must bear in mind when bring- 



100 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

ing his plans into effect. Thus, in crossing a 
river whicli is the work of art, it is preferahle to 
use a bridge containing more arches than one, 
' while in natural rivers a single arch is often 
preferable, because in the latter we wish to in- 
crease the magnitude of the bridge, while in the 
former we endeavor to give importance to the 
artificial river. 

The power of increasing or diminishing the 
apparent size of any object, by putting it in com- 
parison with some other object, is most valuable 
to the skillful gardener ; but when it is not duly 
kept in mind, it often occasions as great defects, as 
it might have created beauties, 



PRACTICAL OPEEATIONS. 



CHAPTER XI. 

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 

Having in the preceding pages laid down such 
rules, and given such descriptions and explanations 
of the components of a heautiful Landscape, as 
will, we trust, be understood by the general reader, 
as well as aid the uninstructed in forming a cor- 
rect judgment in matters appertaining to Garden- 
ing, we now proceed to give some instructions 
regarding the Practical Operations connected with 
the art. 

A professional Landscape Gardener must neces- 
sarily possess a thorough knowledge of the art of 
Drawing, and a familiarity with the operations of 
Surveying, beside being entirely at home in the 

(101) 



102 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

Practical details of Gardening. The Amateur will 
find in the following pages, such hints and instruc- 
tions on the various Practical Operations of Gar- 
dening, as will, we hope, not only lighten his own 
labors, but enable him to economize both time 
and money, in the laying out and keeping of his 
grounds. 

As the manual labor is performed by common 
day-laborers, who have no ideas of beauty or grace 
in lines and forms, it will be found necessary, in 
all cases, to lay out their work for them plainly, 
and watch them closely ; without this they will 
not fail to obstruct, rather than aid the amateur, 
by their obstinate misunderstanding of a tasteful 
plan. 

The faculty of foreseeing the effect certain altera- 
tions or improvements will have upon the appear- 
ance of the whole, is that which tends most toward 
economizing labor and expense. This faculty is, 
however, necessarily the result only of long ex- 
perience in the adaptation of various shapes and 
colors to various forms of ground, and different 
scenes. Without the ability to foretell with cer- 
tainty, the effect of his work, the gardener would 



INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 103 

be obliged to work on at random, and his art 
would consist of but a series of expensive and tire- 
some experiments, and tedious alterations. To pre- 
vent this, it is always necessary to engage a com- 
petent gardener to lay out a Plan for the proposed 
improvement. Let the proprietor closely consider 
this plan, have it modified by the gardener in any 
particular, when it conflicts with his direct wishes — 
the latter being then able to show him where his 
wishes would come in conflict with the harmony 
or tastefulness of the whole design ; and then, when 
finally the plan is fully settled upon, men may 
be set to work to execute its details, without the 
after necessity of changes or alterations, involving 
loss of time and money, and creating vexation and 
disgust. 

All that is done should be done in the best 
manner, else will the improvement, however costly 
or elegant in design, be sure to disappoint the 
hopes of the proprietor. Slight errors, in the exe- 
cution of a Plan, have a serious eff'ect upon the 
appearance of the grounds. Lines which should be 
parallel, and are not, faults in the level, etc., 
etc., while oftentimes themselves unperceived by the 



104 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

general observer, never fail to give out an unpleas- 
ant impression of tlie whole improvement. 

The gardener or improver must be careful to make 
his works join harmoniously with those of nature. 
He must recollect that no work is tasteful, unless 
in keeping with the shape and general conforma- 
tion of the ground, and harmonious in all its parts. 
All defective forms of natural forest growth, as 
straight lines, formed by former fences, must be 
restored to beauty by breaking their outline bold- 
ly, — thus showing the beauties of individual trees, 
or, when necessary to create greater distinctness of 
outline, new plantations may be added, in places, 
to conceal the bare stems of trees, and to give 
greater depth and impressiveness of appearance. 
Groves are much improved by proper and careful 
thinning out, by which means, clear spots of lawn 
are created in the midst of groups of trees. Where 
it is desirable to obtain Views to the outside, 
thinning out of branches, and topping are often 
found sufficient. Where this will not answer, solid 
woods may be broken through, care being taken 
to give to the break a natural freedom of shape. 
Thinning out must be carefully, and not too hastily 



INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 105 

performed. Trees which have grown up in the 
midst of a dense group, protected then by others, 
fj'om cold and high wunds, are unfit to withstand, 
singly and at once, the fierce blasts of winter. 
The change should, therefore, be brought about 
gradually. Trees which it is desired to remove, 
should, in all cases, be taken up roots and all, 
as nothing looks so unsightly and tasteless, as a 
landscape clogged up with stumps. Improvements 
with the ax, such as those spoken of above, will 
be found to succeed best when the woods are in 
full foliage. 



CHAPTER XII. 

PLANTING. 

In taking up or setting out trees, we should 
never forget that they are possessed of life, and 
may not, therefore, he handled as stumps or stones. 
It is necessary to preserve the largest possible por- 
tion of the roots, and to trim carefully with a 
sharp knife, those which were cut off or injured 
hy the spade, in digging up. The hark, also, 
requires careful attention — should it become dry, 
and much injured, it would he fatal to the tree. 
Next, the tops must be trimmed, so as to pre- 
serve, a balance between the body of the tree and 
its roots. The roots supply nourishment to the tree, 
while the leaves are its lungs. It is possible, 
therefore, to deprive it of too great a portion of 
leaf-making boughs, which will make it puny and 

sickly, and perhaps kill it. Evergreens and Larches 
(106) 



PLANTING. 107 

are only trimmed when any parts are badly broken 
or injured. 

Where it is intended to plant trees, the ground 
should be previously prepared by a deep trench- 
ing and manuring ; this will be found to add 
wonderfully to the quick development of trees. 
Where this, however, is found too expensive, it is 
necessary to make the holes for the trees quite 
large, say three or four times the diameter of the 
circle described by the roots. The planter must 
be careful to place the roots in their original posi- 
tion, neither in a bunch, nor in a direction con- 
trary to that they were in naturally. Surround 
the roots, on all sides, carefully with fine earth. It 
is important to see that every portion of the roots 
comes in contact with the ground. Hard-wooded 
trees must be placed in the ground, at the depth 
they originally held. With such as grow from cut- 
tings, as the Silver, and Lombardy Poplars, the 
Willow, etc., the depth makes no material differ- 
ence. They may be set at any convenient depth. 
After filling in the ground about the roots, it is 
tramped down, and the operation is finally completed 
by throwing two or three buckets of water around 



108 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

the base of the tree, which will more firmly unite 
the earth around the roots. 

The best season for planting or transplanting, 
is earlj in the winter and in the spring. For 
Evergreens, spring is generally considered the best 
time. The operation of taking up trees, is one 
requiring much care. They should be tenderly 
handled, and particular attention must be paid to 
saving the roots, as much as possible. After 
being dug out, trees should not be left lying about 
on the ground, or put away above ground, but if 
not immediately to be planted again, should be 
hulled in. To do this, a trench is dug, sufficiently 
deep to take in the roots completely. 

In Plantations of single trees it is well, here 
and there, to set two or three of the same species 
in the same hole, creating an effect which we often 
see in natural scenery, and which adds a most 
pleasing variety to the Landscape. Trees thus 
planted will naturally incline from the perpen- 
dicular, and often assume most graceful shapes. 
In planting to form a grove, the choice of situa- 
tions for trees, is a matter requiring a delicate 
and correct judgment, and some experience. We 



PLANTING. 109 

can only say here, that it is absolutely necessary 
to avoid all formality and regularity, and most 
especially the irgular irregularity into which begin- 
ners often run, when attempting to avoid straight 
lines and regular distances. Trees should be 
planted nearer together here — farther apart there — 
but everywhere in such a manner that the eye caij 
not detect the handiwork of art. 

In planting solid masses, or groups, the effect 
of the entire body upon the balance of the scenery, 
as well as the effect of each individual part to 
the group as a whole, must be foreseen by the 
gardener. Failing in this, he will most certainly 
be unsuccessful in his attempts at adding a grace- 
ful feature to the Landscape. The faculty of fc/re- 
seeing effects, as before remarked, is one which can 
not be attained but by practice and experience, 
in connection with a correct taste, and an eye 
quick to take in all the details of a scene. We 
must, therefore, confine ourselves to simple direc- 
tions, as to the preliminary proceedings. The main 
features of the plan for improvement being first 
marked on the ground with sticks, the outlines 
of the groups are next marked off. koepino- strictly 



110 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

in mind tlieir effect, as regards freedom of view, 
and of form, hight, and general shape. Longer 
sticks may serve to distinguish the irregular out- 
lines ; after examining which, smaller pegs will 
serve to fill up the lines and render the mark- 
ing plainer. The tree-holes are now made ; not, 
however, following the outline marks, but irregu- 
larly — simply preserving the main features. In 
makino; the tree-holes, when several workmen are 
employed, it has been found an excellent expedi- 
ent, by which to avoid uniformity, to allow the 
workmen to suit themselves, in the first set of 
holes they make, merely preserving intact the main 
outline. To follow implicitly any marked out- 
line would produce easy-flowing lines or forms, 
which are invariably insipid. 

To produce dense masses, the improver must 
imitate the ways of nature, viz : let them grow 
up from a thicket. In such a case accidental 
effects, and the workings of nature, are to be 
securely relied on. As the plants composing the 
thicket grow up, the weaker ones are either run 
out by their stronger neighbors, or they sprout 
from the bottom, and remain as undero^rowth, and 



PLANTING. Ill 

can, in time, be cut down. By proceeding in this 
way, the improver will secure a close, compact 
group for many years. In planting a group in 
the way mentioned, we select young stems from 
half an inch to an inch in diameter, and set them 
out at from two to four feet apart, then leave 
the development of the group to nature. Care 
must be exercised to avoid regularity in the dis- 
tances and lines. Trees of rarer species, and which 
naturally demand a more conspicuous place, should 
not be mixed with the commoner species, in groups, 
as either they would thereby be lost to observa- 
tion, or, in the attempt to make them prominent 
above the rest, the compactness of the group would 
be destroyed. Such trees are planted as single 
specimens before the group to which they belong ; 
thus they will highten the spirited form of the 
group, and have sufficient room to attain their full 
development and beauty. If it is intended to 
plant a mass or group of half-grown trees, they 
must, of course, be set at greater distances apart, 
according to their size. Brushwood, such as Indian- 
arrow, Dogwood, Hornbeams, etc., is then to be planted 
between, to make the group compact and close. 



112 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

Particular attention should be paid to form tlie 
margin or oblique ascending line of a group. The 
shrubbery is to be planted, not merely to cover 
the bare stems of the higher trees in the interior 
of the groups, but to produce, at the same time, 
an ever-changing natural variety. Several plants 
of the same species should be set together, as 
though springing up from the same stock ; the out- 
side plants should incline toward the ground, thus 
gradually rising toward the lowest branches of the 
trees. It will be found of good effect to plant 
some detached, smaller groups or clumps of shrub- 
bery, disposed on the same principle, at some dis- 
tance before the group, especially in such places as 
should be the most conspicuous points of the mar- 
gin, being either bold prominences, or deep recesses. 
The Evergreens should always be set together, 
rather than scattered among the deciduous trees and 
shrubs. Placed by themselves, they will show to 
much more advantage, giving pleasure to the senses, 
in summer, by the cool shade of their dense foliage, 
and the fragrance with which they scent the air, 
in winter — lending an appearance of life to the 
Garden, when all appears withered and dead. If 



PLANTING. 113 

thej are wished to produce immediate effect on the 
garden scenery, they may be set closer together 
than their future size will admit, being thinned 
out and removed to other places, when becoming 
too thick. 

This is generally done when heavier masses of 
evergreens are planted. In planting detached groups 
of three, five, seven or nine plants each, the plants 
may be set at once at such distances as will allow 
their future development. In planting evergreens by 
the side of a walk or road, ample allowance must be 
made for the growth of the spreading branches ; they 
should be set at such a distance from the border, as 
never to interfere with the free passage of the road. 

Those kinds of evergreens which naturally in- 
cline to the stiff form, as the Eed-cedar, the Juni- 
per, the Arbor-vitse, etc., should always be set in a 
denser clump, thus forcing their normal forms to 
attain a more irregular, rugged shape. 

Fine Flowering Shrubbery and Flowers. — It 

has been remarked above, that Flowering Shrubs 

and Flowers are grouped according to the same 

principles as the larger masses of trees and shrubs. 

They show best when grouped in masses, consisting 
10 



114 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

of but one kind of plant, but where, in large 
masses, flowers of several kinds are brought to- 
gether, a portion of the outside, or margin, should 
be allowed to each, when its beauties will be shown 
to most advantage, the center being then formed 
of parts of all, yet not so intermixed as to form 
a wild confusion. In such an arrangement of a 
flower-group, the flowers should not, however, be set 
regularly in borders or wreaths, but a natural 
arrangement should be kept up, such as has been 
before spoken of Thus we should set them, in 
one place, in clumps, showing conspicuously between 
masses of green shrubbery, and in another as 
uniting in a solid mass, forming the immediate 
margin of the group. 

In planting trees or shrubs of any kind, it is 
always well, when possible, to select for each species 
the quality of soil which experience and examina- 
tion have proved is best adapted to its growth and 
well-being. Many plants require a rich soil, while 
others, again, flourish on sterile, barren ground ; 
some must have a dry soil, while others, again, 
will grow when the ground is immersed in water. 
It is true enough, that all, or nearly all varieties 



PLANTING. 115 

will live in common soil, neither rich nor poor, 
wet nor dry. Yet it is plain, that when they are 
at once set into a soil adapted to their wants, they 
will grow faster, and hecome hardier, and, of course, 
be objects of much greater beauty. It is, however, 
but seldom in the power of the improver to pro- 
vide, for all his trees, the soil they should have. 
Too often his place presents a soil composed of 
naught but stiff clay, barren and hard to work. 
It is therefore expedient, if at all possible, to 
trench deeply the soil he intends to plant. This 
is an operation involving considerable labor and 
expense. Should he not be able to do this, he 
should, in all cases, make his tree-holes much 
larger than common, that the plant may be able 
to send out new roots, through the mellow ground. 
For such plants as require rich ground, well-rotted 
manure or loam should be mixed in large propor- 
tion with the ground thrown around the roots. 

For the first two or three years after groups 
have been planted, it is necessary that the ground 
about the bases of the trees, be kept clear of 
weeds, as well as partly loose. In autumn or win- 
ter, the ground should be turned up with the 



116 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

spade or hoe, in order that it may receive the 
meliorating influences of the frost and moisture of 
winter. The turf growing around the groups should 
not he cut, or otherwise disturbed, as this would 
draw a line of stiff separation between the groups 
and the lawn, which naturally should be united. 

Where plants stand on the lawn, or anywhere 
in the turf, their bases should be kept clear for 
several years, that they may have no lack of air 
and moisture at their roots. It will be found 
necessary to give such spots an occasional clearing, 
covering them afterward with litter. Should this 
be neglected, the plants will become stunted and 
sickly. 

Great care and attention to all necessary details 
is required, in moving or transplanting trees of 
large size. Trees of rapid growth, and also Ever- 
greens, having generally spreading and fibrous roots, 
are much hardier, and do not require so much care. 
It is, for instance, no difficulty to transplant a 
Poplar of nine inches diameter in the stem, while 
an Oak of that size, if moved, will scarcely ever 
grow. In all cases, the utmost attention must be 
given to the preservation of the roots. For the 



PLANTING. 117 

transportation of trees, various machines have heen 
invented, but none are much used, in this coun- 
try. For any common occasion, a dray will answer 
all purposes. This should be backed up, as closely 
as possible, to the base of the tree to be moved, 
and the roots being loosened, the ball is slipped 
on the dray. For the purpose of moving quite 
large or heavy trees, a machine, of which we here 
give a description, is found very useful. This ma- 
chine is formed on the principle of the common 
timber truck, being a strong lever attached to the 
axletree of a pair of wheels. The latter are very 
strongly constructed, at least five feet in diameter, 
and with a six or nine incli tire. The axletree 
is correspondingly substantial, and to its middle 
the pole or lever is securely fixed. The pole should 
be made of the toughest wood, seven inches square, 
with the edges planed off, and somewhat reduced 
in thickness, toward the end. The length should 
be at least ten feet ; for the longer it is, the 
greater the purchase in raising a tree. The pole 
is strengthened by side braces, let into the axle, 
and mounted with an iron eye and ring at the 
point. When to be used, it is backed up against 



118 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

the tree, and the pole is raised and made fast 
thereto. The wheels rest in the hollow made by- 
baring and loosening the roots, though not upon 
any of them ; and when all is ready, the strength 
of men, or of a horse, is applied to the pole-chain, 
which is, together with the tree, pulled to the 
ground, the roots being by that means lifted out 
of the ground. When thus borne on the machine, 
it is drawn away, root foremost, to its new place, 
•previously prepared for its reception. The wheels 
are drawn into the new opening, the pole and tree 
set at liberty, and if, as is generally the case, 
the root be heavy, the tree will resume its former 
position, with but very little aid. The machine is 
then loosened from the tree, and removed out of 
the way. The roots are next carefully laid out 
and imbedded in loose soil, well consolidated and 
plentifully watered, and the job is done. 

When a machine is made on purpose for remov- 
ing large trees, the axle tree may be made to fit 
a pair of cart-wheels for a temporary purpose. 
The axle should be formed with straight, not droop- 
ing ends, as they are usually made, because this 
renders the raising of the pole much easier. Upon 



PLANTING. 119 

the upper side of the axle there should be a thick 
block of wood bolted, to give more elevation to the 
root when drawn along, and on this an old sack 
or a thick band of straw is bound, to prevent chafing 
the bark of the tree. 

After being transplanted, as before observed, 
trees require much water, and in the hottest part 
of summer they must be well attended. Water 
should be applied not only to the roots, but also 
to the entire stem and boughs, every bit of bark 
being made wet. Evergreens, in particular, require 
this treatment. When about to transplant trees, 
it is a very good plan to prepare them for that 
step a year beforehand. For this purpose, it is 
necessary to dig carefully round the roots, to the 
depth of some of the main roots. The side roots 
are cut with the ax or spade at some distance 
from the stem. The trench dug round the roots 
is then filled up again with earth and well watered. 
By adopting this plan, the roots are forced to send 
out small fibrous rootlets, which will soon form 
a solid ball. Trees prepared in this way will be 
much more likely to live than if simply taken up 
without previous preparation. 



120 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

In winter, trees may be removed with the fro- 
zen ball; having been dug round, the ball is 
watered in the evening previous to a cold night. 
In the morning, the ball being sufficiently frozen, 
the tree is taken up and removed ; trees, espe- 
cially Evergreens, thus removed, will succeed very 
well. In replanting larger trees, it is well to 
surround the roots with sand, or fine gravel, before 
filling in the earth. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE L AWN. 

There are two ways to establish the grass on 
the Lawii, either by sowing the seed, or by sodding. 
Whatever way be adopted, it must be observed that 
the ground must first be put in good order. It 
should be spaded, and made fine with the rake. 
In smaller places, sodding is far preferable to sow- 
ing the seed, as it finishes the job at once. The 
sods may be cut with a sharp spade from a pas- 
ture or meadow, in pieces of a size convenient to 
handle, and of one to two inches in thickness. 
When put down, the edges are joined, as nearly 
as possible, and fine earth or manure filled in the 
cracks. In smaller or neater places, as in city 
lots, great care is generally taken to join the sods 
smoothly — laborers are frequently seen on their 
knees, trimming the edges with a knife. After 

11 ^ (121) 



122 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

the sods are laid down, they should be beaten down 
with the spade, or a pounder made expressly for 
this purpose. 

If the grass is to be raised from seed, the 
ground should undergo a very careful preparation. 
If it be poor, its surface, after being spaded, must 
be enriched with fine manure, else the young grass 
will meet with but little success. The seed may 
be sown pretty thickly ; it should be but slightly 
raked under, after which, a roller is passed over 
the ground, to make the surface smooth and firm. 
The ground should be of such quality as to start 
the grass quickly, else it will soon be covered by 
an abundance of weeds. 

The borders of the Lawn should be sodded, 
under all circumstances; they should not rise more 
than one or two inches above the level of the 
■walk. 

Lawns of larger extent may conveniently be 
worked with the plow and harrow, and treated on 
the principle generally followed by the farmer — to 
sow the grass-seed between oats or wheat. 

The Bluegrass is the kind of grass most desi- 
rable for grass-plots intended to be kept smooth 



THE LAWN. 123 

and short, or for pasture. Timothy and Clover 
may be used for larger Lawns intended for hay. 

The verdant turf of the Lawn forms a very 
important component of a beautiful garden scene. 
Its luxuriant growth and verdure is highly im- 
proved by frequent manurings, which should be 
applied in winter. After the manure has had the 
influence of frost, it is raked even and the litter 
piled up and removed. The grass should be kept 
low and smooth — the scythe and roller being freely 
used. The borders must always be nicely trim- 
med — they should be kept very smooth and short. 

Many little contrivances have been invented, and 
may be found in the seedstores, for the purpose 
of facilitating the labor of trimming grass bor- 
ders. These are most properly left to ladies and 
children. A sharp spade, and a steady eye and 
hand, are all that are necessary to trim the neat- 
est border. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

MOVING GROUND, 

Is the most expensive operation in Landscape 
Gardening. It is, therefore, needful to use every 
precaution whicli may serve to economize expense. 
To this purpose it is necessary, in the first place, 
that a complete and well-digested plan of the pro- 
posed alterations should he prepared. This done, 
the improver must so arrange his operations, as to 
simplify them as far as possible. Matters must be 
so arranged that, when ground is once taken up, 
it will he put down only in the place where it is 
intended to leave it. This rule should, on no con- 
sideration, he broken through. The ground should 
be obtained as near as possible to the scene of 
operations, and should never be taken from a place 
which will afterward have to be again filled up. 
When it is only necessary to move ground a short 

( 124 ) 



MOVING GROUND. 125 

distance, and on level or descending ground, it 
will be found advantageous to work with wheel- 
barrows, while in more extended operations, and 
where it is necessary to carry the ground some 
distance, carts, or perhaps wagons are preferable; 
where wheelbarrows are used, the kind called rail- 
road harroivs, having a round and open bed, will 
be found to be a saving, both of time and labor. 
On level ground, an article called a scraper will 
be found very useful. The ground being first bro- 
ken up with the plow, two horses are hitched to 
one of these scrapers, and follow immediately after. 
A man with two horses will, in this way, easily 
perform the labor of half a dozen men with wheel- 
barrows. 

Whatever mode is used to move the ground, it 
is of importance that all should be conducted with 
regularity and order. There should be men enough, 
at every station, loading, hauling, or leveling, to 
keep all parties constantly going. Carts or wag- 
ons should be so managed as not to get in one 
another's way, thus losing no time by waiting one 
for the other. The overseer should attend to it, 
that no team goes off without a full load. 



126 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

The shaping of the Ground, and the laying out 
of Roads, are operations very closely related to one 
another, and depend upon each other in a great 
measure. The natural surface of the ground in- 
fluences the improver in the directions he chooses 
for his roads or walks, while these again govern en^ 
tirely the artificial grading of the ground, which must 
appear natural when completed. On level ground, 
the gardener has only to consult his taste as to 
the courses of his roads and walks. After this is 
determined upon, however, he has to consider how 
the hest effect may be produced upon the flat ground 
lying between the roads. Here he will follow the 
dictates of taste, so far as circumstances allow. He 
may sink in one place an easy valley, using the 
earth which is taken out to form a gentle emi- 
nence or rising ground beyond, which shall accord 
with the shape of the valley. As in this pro- 
ceeding, the diflerence in hight is just double the 
depth of ground taken out, it is possible to pro- 
duce a great effect by comparatively little labor. 
On rising or broken ground, it is a matter of 
greater difficulty to select courses for walks and 
roads, as the gardener has to consult both good 



MOVING GROUND. 127 

taste and economy of expense. On sucli ground, 
the course of a road often requires a deep cut-in 
or an embankment raised up. Yet it must be borne 
in mind by the gardener, that he must so arrange 
the road or walk, and the grounds, in reference 
to each other, as to produce the impression that 
the road was regulated by the shape of the ground, 
and not the ground by the road. To do this, 
requires, sometimes, a little additional labor, and 
always a clear apprehension of the matter under 
consideration. The grade of the road should be 
alternately ascending and descending, accommodating 
itself, in all cases, naturally and unobtrusively to 
the shape of the ground. Thus only will a road 
or walk appear in its natural and proper place. 
Eminences, knolls, and rising ground in general, 
where made, are, as before said, mostly formed from 
the earth taken out when forming the valleys and 
ponds. It must be the aim of the gardener to 
produce, in all his alterations of the surface, free, 
unbroken, undulating lines, which shall nowhere 
betray the hand of art. Such forms it is not 
possible to mark out on the ground by stakes ; 
they must be conceived by the experienced imagina- 



128 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

tion of the gardener, and can be carried into effect 
only under his supervision. In forming an emi- 
nence, however, the hight to which it is intended 
to carry it may be quite well marked with sticks, 
the tops of which will then show the greatest ele- 
vation to which the ground should be leveled. 
After a sufficiency of earth has been filled in, 
the whole is graded and leveled, under the direc- 
tion of the gardener, and receives from him its 
final and enduring expression; and this is what 
can not be previously marked down by sticks. 
While filling in the ground, and before leveling, 
should any fine slopes, by accident, develop them- 
selves, they must be carefully preserved. In opera- 
tions on an extended scale, the grading and level- 
ing may be performed, in great part, by the plow 
and harrow ; but it will be found necessary to put 
on the finishing strokes with the spade and rake. 
In forming eminences, it must be remembered that 
they must be strictly in unison with the surround- 
ing grounds, and never betray signs of filling up. 
There is nothing more tasteless, or which more 
deforms a scene, than the so-called Indian mounds, 
which people of a certain taste delight in placing 



MOVING GROUND. I'^i) 

in conspicuous situations, in tlieir gardens or before 
their houses — circular or sugar-loaf formed — and 
generally surmounted by a trimmed Cedar, or a 
scraggy-looking Eosebush : these pimples upon the 
fair face of Nature are highly admired. 

The sinking of Valleys is likewise a work which 
can not go on w^ithout the constant superintendence 
of the gardener. In directing the workmen as to 
the depth to be cut in, a profile line is cut in 
the ground in several places, showing the average 
depth at the several points. The ground is then 
removed in accordance with these lines, and the 
rough form of the valley will appear. Where a 
valley is to be formed of a ravine, profile lines 
are struck on both sides of the hollow, and the 
ground coming out from the sides is filled in 
the bottom. As the filling up advances, a heavy 
garden-line or long rope is suspended between oppo- 
site profile lines, to determine and mark by its 
help the degree of curve to be given. When the 
line is arranged to suit the improver, he proceeds 
to mark the different ranges with stakes whose 
tops will just touch the line. Earth is then filled 
in level with the tops of the stakes; which done. 



130 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

the form of tlie Valley will be before us, ready 
to receive its final finish, under the direction of 
the improver. In directing the laborers in their 
final labors, the gardener takes care to view the 
work from many different points, in order that no 
defects of form may escape his eye, and that he 
may obtain for his work the greatest beauty com- 
patible with its situation. A valley of this kind, 
when finished, should be at once sodded, as, unless 
it is, the heavy rains will alter, to some extent, 
the newly-formed surface, by washing down into 
the hollow. 

It is necessary, in forming a Valley under the 
above directions, to make such allowances for the 
nature of the ground, as will prevent it from being 
wet or marshy in any part, when finished. In 
heavy, flat soil, which is generally wet, it will not 
do to cut in below the surface. Here earth must 
be filled in on both sides, so as to leave a hol- 
low between ; but care must be taken, not thereby 
to disarrange the harmony of the surface, extend- 
ing beyond the sides of the proposed valley. Drains 
are often made to lead off the water that might 
otherwise accumulate. These may be built either 



MOVING GROUND. 131 

of stone, underground, or a deep trench may be 
filled witli loose stones, old logs, etc., tlirougli wliich 
the water will sink, and leave the surface dry. 

In smaller Gardens the shape of the ground 
may be vastly improved by a good spading over, 
throwing the ground so as gradually to form an 
easy, swinging line, much superior to a dead level. 
However level the grounds may originally be, the 
Lawn should be in some degree, more or less, 
either concave or convex, as a dead flat never 
looks well. '•' 

"'There is, now-a-days, a rage for "leveling," among many 
of the working hands. No matter what may he the advan- 
tages a place may offer for a rolling or undulating surface, 
they insist upon bringing it down to " a nice level," or " a 
pretty terrace." If these gentlemen would stick to railroading, 
at which they have evidently graduated, their "leveling" pro- 
pensities might he of some use to the community at large, and 
certainly of less injury to the Art of Landscape Gardening. 



CHAPTER XV. 

ROADS AND WALKS, 

As made for use, rather than show, should be 
firm, smooth, and dry, at all seasons of the year. 
And, inasmuch as they are objects which are open to 
public inspection, they should also be kept with great 
neatness. Their shapes should be sharply cut and 
distinctly defined ; their borders kept in order, and 
all sorts of dirt or rubbish carefully excluded from 
them. Thus kept, they will, by their graceful 
curves and turns, add much interest to the land- 
scape or scene. It has been said, in another part 
of this volume, that the course of a Eoad or Walk 
should not be a matter for the fancy of the gar- 
dener or the proprietor to decide upon, but that 
a Walk must have an object as well as a course. 
We may say here, in addition, that while the walks 

are laid down on the paper-plan of operations, this 
(132) 



ROADS AND WALKS. 133 

can not entirely bind the gardener, but be must 
be directed, in tbe execution, by his judgment, and 
the accidental and perhaps unforeseen advantages 
or disadvantages of the ground. While, then, in 
the direction and main points of his Walks he fol- 
lows the design or plan, his eye and good taste 
can alone guide him in giving to them those grace- 
ful bends and curves which make them objects of 
attraction, and which alone can give them expres- 
sion. The man of taste will not be ruled by a 
Plan ; his love for choice forms, and for the beau- 
ties of a Landscape, will always lead his roads 
and walks through the choicest spots, and in the 
easiest and most graceful lines. 

In marking out the line for an intended Eoad 
or Walk, the gardener should make use of sticks 
about two feet long, with wdiich he first proceeds 
to secure, by measurement from his Plan, correct- 
ness of general outline. Having marked the turn- 
ing points and general outline, he next proceeds 
to establish by them, such curves and easy-flowing 
lines as seem to him best and most appropriate, 
to connect his former marks. When arranged to 
his satisfaction, the sticks are driven into the 



134 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

ground, and tlie labor of preparing it for the recep- 
tion of the substance which is to form the future 
walk, commences. 

Carriage Eoads, or Drives, require to be built 
sufficiently strong and firm, to resist the weight 
and motion of carriages and horses. They should 
have an easy descent on both sides, being slightly 
raised in the middle. The course of a carriage 
road should not be led over broken or steep ground, 
but should, on the contrary, offer every facility 
throughout, for easy and rapid driving. As the 
shape of the ground, of course, governs in a great 
degree the line of the road, and the surface may 
be broken, consisting of different levels — these 
levels must then be connected by easy and flowing 
lines — nothing abrupt shoAving itself. The lack 
of such unity and freedom spoils many expensive 
approaches. Carriage roads must have a solid 
foundation of stone, to resist the wear and tear 
of the weather. 

From some experience in the construction of 
roads or drives, we confidently offer the following 
rule, as forming the best road that has come to our 
knowledge: the ground must first be graded to the 



ROADS AND WALKS. 135 

exact level of the future Eoad, that there may be 
a foundation upon which to work. The surface 
should then be laid with stones, about six inches 
square, and having the lower surface flat. After 
laying these stones tolerably close together, a layer 
of coarse gravel is put over them, say to the depth 
of two inches, filling also all the interstices left 
between the stones. A course of fine gravel, two 
inches deep, is next put on, which must be rolled 
down with a very heavy roller, fair and hard — a 
heavy rain, before commencing to roll it down, is 
quite an advantage, aiding greatly in solidifying 
the road. Another course of gravel should not be 
put on until the entire road is firm and solid. 
When put on, it is also to be rolled down, and 
made as firm as possible. A road made in this 
manner, gradually, and hardened by degrees, will 
outlast any other that we have ever seen. Too 
much gravel put on at once, makes it a bad drive 
for a long time. Eoads formed of smaller stones 
(pike stones), filled in to the depth of six inches, 
and covered with gravel to the depth of three 
inches (a mode often pursued), are not near so 
solid. Beside requiring much more labor and ma- 



136 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

terial, they much sooner show the traces of pass- 
ing wheels; horses, too, are very apt to work up 
the small stones to the surface, where they lie 
among the gravel, disfiguring the road. The width 
of the road must, of course, he regulated by its 
importance. An approach road to the house should 
not he less than ten feet wide, hut must he strictly 
in keeping with the style of the mansion. 

Garden walks, being only for the use of pedes- 
trians, and not being very much used, need not 
be built so solidly as drives. The best way to 
construct them, however, is to pave the ground 
(previously prepared), with flat stones, as recom- 
mended in making a drive, and then to cover the 
stones with a layer of fine gravel, which, being 
well rolled, will become as firm and even as could 
be desired. In place of flat stones, the bottoms 
of the walks may be filled with the rubbish which 
generally remains about a new building. And in 
many cases, where the ground is high, and not 
marshy, the surface, after being well-graded, may 
be simply covered with a good layer of gravel, 
which, when rolled for some time, will prove as 
firm and uniform as need be. On places making 



ROADS AND WALKS. 137 

less pretensions to elegance, walks are often made 
of tan-bark. This substance is neither firm nor 
lasting, and is only used because less expensive 
than nice, clean gravel. Whatever substance walks 
may be composed of, it is important that they 
should be neatly leveled, and that the borders 
should be kept clean and distinctly marked. In 
places where the picturesque is the ruling feature, 
it is not necessary that so much neatness should be 
observed, the most important consideration there, 
being a dry, unincumbered walk. In situations 
where the ground is steep, walks are often nicely 
divided into little planes, connecting one with the 
other by a few steps of stone or wood. This makes 
the walks easier, or gives them less pitch. 

When constructing a road or walk of any kind, 
it is highly important that the ground upon which 
its foundations lie, should be hard and solid. If 
it has been lately dug up or spaded, or in any 
way disturbed, it should be left to be settled by 
the rains and storms of a winter, or it should be 
pounded down solidly. A neglect of this precau- 
tion often causes much trouble and unnecessary 

expense. 
12 



138 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

The improver must also make calculations as to 
drainage for his walks and roads. Where the ground 
is undulating, and the walks sweep across the coun- 
try, now high, now low, it is easy to see that, in 
the lowest places, the water will stand, in wet 
weather, at least. This water must be received in 
a subterranean channel, and led off. Heavy rains, 
too, are apt to wash the roads, and injure them 
in that way. To prevent this as much as possi- 
ble, the road should be inclined toward that side 
by which the water is most easily disposed of. Thus 
a road running along a hill-side should incline to- 
ward the lower side of the hill. Sometimes* it wiU 
be found expedient to have little channels, at reg- 
ular distances, along the lower edge, by which the 
water may escape. This, or some other plan, must 
be adopted, to break and divide the mass of water 
collecting during rains or freshets, from a road, 
and the lawn adjoining, where the land is an in- 
clined plane, as, if allowed to gather into a body, 
it would wash away and destroy the lower part of 
the road, along which it would run. In places 
where a road runs along a steep inclination, the 
water should be led into a stone gutter, on the lower 



ROADS AND WALKS. 139 

edge, which may have openings, at regular dis- 
tances, to let the water out again. Care and atten- 
tion is necessary, to keep any road in good order, 
and preserve it from the ravages of water. After 
every rain, roads should be carefully inspected, and 
every defective spot mended. Without this, the best 
constructed road will soon fall into ruins. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

WATER. 

The peculiarly enlivening effect of a body of 
water, in Garden scenery, has been spoken of in a 
previous part of this work. Owing to the dry sum- 
mers which prevail in America, however, there are 
comparatively few places where a uniform supply 
of water can be kept up all the year round. But 
there are many, notwithstanding, when, by the 
exercise of a little ingenuity, the improver may 
provide a Pond, or little Lake, which will obtain 
its supply of water from a never-failing spring in 
the neighborhood, and may thus be as well filled 
in sulnmer as in winter. Ponds may also be 
formed, by damming up the course of a creek or 
branch, which will afford a steady supply. A stream 

of water sometimes runs through the grounds. If 
(140) 



WATER. 141 

such is the case, its banks must be beautified by 
plantation, and its course changed or altered, when 
necessary, to make it conform more strictly to the 
general aspect. When it is necessary to dig a 
channel for a Brook, it should not be dug deep, 
as the water will soon make it deeper. In lay- 
ing out or forming a Pond (as every piece of 
standing water in garden scenery is called in this 
country), the first thing" necessary is to ascertain 
the exact water level, which, being marked, will 
then become the basis of all future operations. 
The bed of the pond is then formed. The sides 
should be sloping toward the middle, and not abrupt 
or perpendicular, to prevent accidents, from people 
or cattle fallinc: ^n. The shores should be com- 
posed of strong or firm ground, to resist, as much 
as possible, the pressure of the water. The bottom 
should be water-tight, if possible, in order that as 
little as may be of the contents be lost by leakage. 
On low ground, which is naturally moist, and does 
not therefore, absorb much water, there is not much 
difiiculty about this. Where it is otherwise, it is 
often necessary to have the entire bottom laid 
with cement. To prevent the sides of a pond 



142 PRACTICAL LAITDSCAPE GARDENING. 

from being washed away, or destroyed by freshets, 
a channel, or overflow, to lead ojff the surplus 
water, must be constructed. Care must be taken 
to have this sufficiently strong and capacious for 
any emergency. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

ROCKWOKK. 

Two different modes of forming rochwork, are 
practiced by gardeners. One, hj arranging stones 
or rocks, in such shapes and heaps as will be 
agreeable to the eye, leaving room between them 
for the growth of Ferns, Climbers, and other plants, 
which naturally flourish among rocks. The other, 
by imitation of dropstones or stalactite, by which 
mode many picturesque objects, such as grottoes, 
arcades, seats, etc., may be readily formed. Much 
experience in the matter is requisite for the con- 
struction of a nice piece of Eockwork, but if taste- 
fully and appropriately arranged it is a great orna- 
ment to a Landscape. To construct a Eock-scene 
of the description first named — say for a water- 
fall, or to place on the shore of a pond — the first 
requisite is to provide a foundation so secure that 

there will be no danger of its being undermined by 

( 143 ) 



144 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

water. Upon this the stones are placed in the 
manner and to the hight required. All appear- 
ance of regularity must be avoided in their arrange- 
ment, and the grain of the stone should, if pos- 
sible, be kept uniformly one way — either perpen- 
dicular or horizontal. The largest pieces obtain- 
able only should be used, and where no large 
stones can be got, several smaller ones should be 
united into one by mortar, which will, at a dis- 
tance, give them the appearance of one large mass. 
In the cracks or fissures left between the large 
masses we then plant Evergreens, Kalmias, Rhodo- 
dendrons, Ivy, Virginia-creepers, Honeysuckles, Ferns, 
or other plants, which will give it the natural 
appearance of wildness, which all rockwork must 
possess. 

In planting, as in placing the rocks, care must 
be taken to make them stand out in spirited, 
picturesque forms. Where such rockwork is desired, 
a single large specimen should not be left alone, 
but surrounded, at various distances, by rocks and 
stones, strewn round in different shapes ; these 
smaller, detached masses, then, seem naturally to 
lead to the main piece. 



KOCKWORK. 145 

When it is possible so to place the rockwork 
as to direct the course of a little brook across 
it, letting its waters fall, surging and foaming, 
into a basin or pond below, the effect of the entire 
scene, it need not be said, will be highly pic- 
turesque and stirring. As solitude seems the most 
appropriate for such a place, plantations of Ever- 
greens seem, and are, peculiarly proper to surround 
it with. 

To form the last-mentioned species of rochworkf 
it is necessary to possess some knowledge of the 
mason's and bricklayer's business, as the tools and 
materials of those trades must be used. It is 
well known that many beautiful shapes of the 
Dropstone or Stalactite are met with in caverns 
and subterranean galleries; and, also, that they are 
formed by the continual dropping of water, which, 
leaving a deposit, gradually and slowly builds up a 
pillar, or a grotto, or a series of such and other more 
fantastic shapes. Great masses of stalactites are also 
found on the surface of the earth, in different parts 
of the aiobe. It is these creations of accident 
that we seek to imitate. The foundations of the 
work must be stone. The stones are arranged 
13 



146 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

roughly, yet solidly laid in mortar, and in such 
shapes, hold and in high-relief, as we see in stalac- 
tite or dropstone formations generally. After the 
rouffh mass has thus risen under the hand of the 
gardener, he gives it a farther degree of finish by 
carefully hiding the points and connecting links of 
the stones composing the whole mass ; thus giving 
it the appearance of an entire body of stone, jut- 
ting out irregularly in various fantastic shapes and 
forms. This is done with a mortar composed in 
part of Hydraulic cement. 

Smaller crevices are left, here and there, in 
which to plant various Shrubs and Creepers, which 
will afterward aid in giving it a finished or natural 
appearance. These crevices and fissures, however, 
must be so arranged, with the help of the mortar, 
as to seem to occur naturally in the body of the 
rock, the joints between individual stones, in such 
places, being carefully hidden. This done, the mass 
is ready for the final operation of covering the, 
as yet, bare stones with several coatings of Hydraulic 
cement, which will give it the appearance of hav- 
ing been formed by the operations of nature. The 
cement should be of good quality, and must be 



ROCKWORK. 147 

well mixed in water with an equal quantity of 
sand. It is applied with a broom or brush, the 
first coat being quite thin, the succeeding two 
thicker. 

Where it is desired to imitate certain tints of 
dropstone, such may be done by mixing in a lit- 
tle lampblack or ground ochre. The sprinkling 
with the broom or brush will give to it, when 
hardened, that rough, irregular appearance which is 
peculiar to stalactitic formations. This kind of 
work is peculiarly applicable to the construction 
of grottoes, which are so refreshingly cool during 
the heats of summer; they may also be made a 
cheap and pleasant substitute for the ugly square 
spring-house, which so often disfigures pleasure- 
grounds in this country. The edges or shore of 
a Pond, and the interior of a Greenhouse, when 
ornamented in this way, may be made to present 
a peculiarly picturesque appearance, which can be 
produced in no other way. Eustic seats are also 
very cheaply and easily constructed in this manner. 
The making of rockworJe has been but very lit- 
tle practiced in this country, and is often under- 
taken by men of but little taste, and less experi- 



148 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

ence. This will account for tlie many ridiculous 
and tasteless specimens of the work, to be met 
with in different parts of the country, and which 
have caused many men of true taste to condemn 
the whole art. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

A PLAN, 

Is made to represent, on paper, and in little 
compass, the form, shape, and extent of improve- 
ments suggested for a certain place. In doing 
this, the general outline of the ground or place, 
with every object thought necessary to introduce 
upon the face of the Plan, as buildings, the spaces 
occupied hy trees, etc. etc., must be laid down 
according to a certain scale or proportion adopted, 
and thus the whole Plan is made a faithful rep- 
resentation of a series of objects. 

It is necessary that the maker of a Plan should 
have a thorough acquaintance with the j)eculiari- 
ties of the grounds to which it is to be applied. 
He must compare and combine, as far as possi- 
ble, the wishes of the proprietor with the dictates 

of good taste, and adapt the result, as much as 

(149) 



150 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

practicable, to tlie conformation of tlie grounds to 
be improved. Thus, in marking out bis future 
groups, he has not only to consider their shapes, 
but must also be able to foresee what species of 
shrubs and trees will have the best effect in dif- 
ferent places. 

Again, in laying down on paper the lines of 
his intended Eoads and Walks, he must not confine 
himself to describing charming curves and sweeps 
upon the paper — he must aim to lead the walks 
and roads by these sweeps, and through the finest 
scenes upon the grounds. It is true, that on 
naked and level spots, the j)lan may be made to 
fit the grounds, or, vice versa, the grounds to fit 
the plan, to a certain degree. But on places hav- 
ing any natural advantages, when the ground is 
broken or perhaps hilly, the ^:)?aws of the improver, 
or gardener, must be greatly modified by the pre- 
vailing advantages or disadvantages of the place; 
and the drawing of an exact plan ceases to be 
a possibility. 

Plans are either working or profile Plans. On 
the first-named, various lines, to exhibit the inside 
and outside views, are marked, showing the space 



A PLAN. 151 

to be filled by Plantation — that devoted to Lawn, 
etc. The dimensions of each division and line 
are given, and trees and shrubbery numbered, their 
names and numbers being afterward marked on 
the margin for convenient reference. As this Plan 
is made to direct the operations of the gardener, 
it must contain all information needed by him in 
the prosecution of his operations. The proprietor, 
is furnished with a iwojile 'plan, from which he 
should be able to gather the fullest and most 
explicit information concerning his grounds in their 
improved state. This last should be finished in 
a better style than the working plan, a,s it will 
serve as a constant reference chart, for the pro- 
prietor. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

LIST OF TREES AND SHRUBS USED IN LANDSCAPE GAR- 
DENING. 

"NOMIXA SI NESCI3 COGNITIO EEEUM PERHT." 

It has been thought proper to introduce a List 
of Trees and Shrubs, generally used in Landscape 
Gardening, for the ornamentation of the scenery. 
A great many of the choicest forest trees, are 
native trees of North America, which justly can 
boast of the noble trees composing its Sylva. The 
trees are introduced accordino* to the natural order 
of Families, as followed in the excellent work on 
"Trees and Shrubs of Massachusetts." 

The Shrubbery is arranged as being Qlimhers, 

Peat or Bog-earth Plants, and the Finer Fhwering, 

Ornamental Shrubs. The limits of this volume will 

not allow us to give especial descriptions of the 

various trees and shrubs. 
(1^2) 



LIST OF TREES AND SHRUBS. 

Conifer^.. Evergreens. 

PiNUS. Pine. 

Pinus Strobus. White Pine. 

" rigida. Pitch Pine. 

'* resinosa. Norway Pine. 

" mills. Yellow Pine. 

" inops. Jersey Pine. 

" pungens. Mountain Pine. 

" tosda. Loblolly Pine. 

" serotina. Pond Pine. 

" Lambertiana. 

" Austriaca. Austrian Pine. 

" Cembra. 

*' Laricio. Corsican Pine. 

" sylvestris. Scottish Pine. 

" pinea. Stone Pine. 

'• pinaster. Cluster Pine. 



153 



Abies. Spruce. 

Abies Canadensis. Hemlock Spruce. 
" nigra. Double or Black Spruce. 
•* alba. White Spruce. 
" cxcelsa. Norway Spruce. 



PiCEA. Pir. 

Picea balsamifera. Balsam Fir. 
" Fraserii. Double Balsam Fir. 
«' argentea. European Silver Fir. 



154 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

Cedrus. Cedar. 

Cedrus Libana. Cedar of Lebanon. 
" Deodora. Indian Cedar. 

JuNiPERUS. Juniper. 

Juniperus communis. Juniper. 
" Virginiana. Red Cedar. 

" sabina. Savin. 

Thuja. Arlbor-vitge. 

Thuja occidentalis. American Arbor-vitas. 
" orientalis, Chinese Arbor-vitSB. 
" pendula. 
" nepalensis. 
" Tartarica. Tartarian Arbor-vitse. 

CupRESSus. Cypress. Cedar. 
Cupressus thyoides. White Cedar. 

Taxus. Yew. 

Taxus Canadensis. American Yew. 
" baccata, English Yew. 
" Hibernica. Irish Yew. 

Larix. Larch. 

Larix Americana. Hackmatack. 
'* Europe a. European Larch. 

Taxodium Distichum. ximerican Cypress. 



LIST OF TREES AND SHRUBS. 155 

GiNKO BiLOBA. Salisbury Tree. 

DECIDUOUS TREES. 
CORYLLACEJ^:. 

QuERCus. Oak. 

Quercus alba. White Oak. 

" bicolor. Swamp White Oak. 
*' castanea. Chestnut Oak. 
" tinctoria. Black Oak. 
" coccinea. Scarlet Oak. 
♦• rubra. Red Oak. 
" macrocarpa. Over-cup White Oak. 
♦* virens. Live Oak. 
" palustris. Pine Oak. 
«' prinus montricola. Rock Chestnut Oak. 
" robur. English Royal Oak. 
" cerris. Turkey Oak. 
" suber. Cork Oak. 
Ilex. Holly Oak. 

Fagus. Beech. 

Fagus sylvatica. European Beech. 
" " var. Americana. American Beech. 

" atropurpurea. Blood Beech. 
" pendula. Drooping Beech. 

Castanea. Chestnut. 
Castanea vesca. 



156 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

CoRYLUS. Hazel. 

Corylus Americana. 

" Colurna. Constantinople Hazel. 



Carpinus. Hornbeam. 
Carpinus Americana. 
« Betulus. 

OsTRYA. Hop Hornbeam. 

Ostrya Virginica. 

JUGLANDACE^. 

JuGLANS. Walnut. 

Juglans cinerea. Butternut. 
" nigra. Black Walnut. 
" regia. English Walnut. 

Carya. Hickory. 

Carya alba. Shellbark Hickory. 

" tomentosa. Mockernut Hickory. 
" amara. Butternut Hickory. 
" olivseformis. Pecan Nut. 
" porcina. Pignut Hickory. 

Betulace^. 

Betula. Bircb. 

Betula lenta. Black Birch — Sweet Birch. 
" excelsa. Yellow Birch. 
" populifolia. White Birch. 



LIST OF TREES AND SHRUBS. 157 

Betula nigra. Keel Birch. ^ 

*' papyracea. Canoe Birch. 

" alba. European White Birch. 
" *' pendula. Drooping Birch. 

Alnus. Alder. 

Alnus serrulata. Common Black Alder. 

" iiQcana. Speckled Alder. 

♦♦ glutinosa. Common Alder. 

•' laciniata. Cut-leaved Alder. 

Platanace^. 

Platanus. Plane-tree. 

Platanus occidentalis. Buttonwood-tree (often called 
Sycamore tree.) 
" orientalis. Oriental Plane-tree. 

Salicine^. 

PopuLus. Poplar. 

Populus grandidentata. Large Poplar. 

♦* tremuliformis, American Aspen. 

" candicans. Balm of Gilead. 

*« Balsamifera. Balsam Poplar 

" argentea. Cotton-tree. 

" Canadensis. Cottonwood. 

*♦ angulata. Carolina Poplar. 

" nigra. Black European Poplar. 
" " dilatata. Lombardy Poplar. 



158 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

Salix. Willow. 

Salix alba. White Willow. 

" vitellina. Golden Willow. 

" Babylonica. Weeping Willow. 

" Russelliana. Bedford Willow. 

" caprea. Flowering Willow. 

" decipiens. Varnished Willow. 

•* cordata. Heart-leaved Willow. 

" fragilis. Crack Willow. 

Artocarpe^. 

MoRUS. Mulberry. 

Morns alba. White Mulberry. 

" nigra. Black European Mulberry, 
** rubra. Red American Mulberry. 

Broussinetia. Paper Mulberry-tree. 
Broussinetia papyrifera. 

Maclura. Osage Orange. 
Madura Aurantiaca. 

Ulmace^. 

Ulmus. Elm. 

Ulmus Americana. White Elm. 

•' fulva. Slippery Elm. 

" alata. Wahoe Elm. 

" campestris. European Elm, English Elm. 
" " virens. Kidbrook Elm. 

" " suberosa. Cork-barked Elm. 



LIST OF TREES AND SHRUBS. 159 

Ulmus montana. Scottish Elm. 

*• '• fastigiata. Spire-topped Elm. 

" " pendula. Weeping Elm. 

Celtis. Nettle-tree. 

Celtis Occidentalis. American Nettle-tree. 
" crassifolia. Hackberry. 

Planera Ulmifolia. Planer-tree. 
Planera Richardii. Zelkowartree. 

LiQuiDAMBAR. Sweet Gum. 
Liquidambar Styraciflua. 

Santalace^. 

Nyssa. Pepperidge-tree, Tupelo. Sour Gum-tree. 
Nyssa multiflora. 

" grandidentulata. Large Tupelo. 
'♦ capitata. Sour Tupelo. 

Laurine^. 

Laurus. Sassafras. (Sassafras Officinale) Sassafras- 
tree. 

Benzoin. Feverbush, Spicebush. 
Benzoin odoriferum. 

OLEACEiE. 

FraxinuS. Asb. 

Fraxinus acuminata. White Ash, 



160 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

Fraxinus pubescens. Red Ash. 

" sambucifolia. Black Ash. 

" viridis. Green Ash. 

" excelsior. European Ash. 

" pendula. Weeping Ash. 

" ornus. Flowering Ash. 

Aquifoliace^. 
Ilex. Holly. 

Hex Opaca. American Holly. 
" aquifoliuna. European Holly. 

BlGNONIACE^. 

Catalpa. Catalpa-tree. 
Catalpa Syringifolia. 

CORNACE^. 

CoRNUs. Cornel. Dogwood. 

Cornus Alternifolia. Alternate-leaved Cornel. 

" sericea. Silky Cornel. 

" Florida. Flowering Dogwood. 

'• alba. Red Dogwood. 

" mascula. Cornelian Cherry. 

VlBURNE^. 

Viburnum. Guelder Eose. 

Viburnum lentago. Sweet Viburnum. 
*• dentatum. Arrow-wood. 



LIST OF TREES AND SHRUBS. 161 

Viburnum Opulus. Cranberry-tree. 
*' Lantana. 

" Lantanoides. Hobble-bush. 

Sambucus Canadensis. Common Elder. 



Hamamelace^. 

Hamamelis. Witcli Hazel. 
Hamamelis Virginica. 

Rosacea. 

Ckatjegus. Thorn. 

Crataegus Coccinea. White Thorn. 

•* crus-galli. Cockspur Thorn. 
" populifolia. Washington Thorn. 
" oxyacantha. English Hawthorn. 

Pyrus Communis. Pear. 
Pyrus Malus. Apple. 

" Americana. American Mountain Ash. 
" aucuparia, European Mountain Ash. 
" Sorbus. Sorb or Service-tree. 
'• Aria. White Beam. 

Prunus. Plum. 

Prunus Americana. Canada Plum. Yellow Plum. 
" insititia. BuUace-tree. 
" Padus. 
14 



162 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

Amelanchier Canadensis. Shop-busli. 
«« Pyracantlia. 

Cerasus. Cherry. 

Cerasus Pennsylyanica. Northern Red Cherry. 
" serotina. Black Cherry. 
" sylvestris. European Wild Cherry. 

EBENACEiE. 

DiosPYROs. Persimmon-tree. 
Dyospyros Virginiana. 

Leguminos^. 

KOBINIA. Locust. 

RoTbinia Pseudo-acacia. Common Locust. 
" viscosa. Pink-flowering Locust. 
*' inermis. 

Gleditschia. Honey Locust. 

Gleditschia Triacanthos. Three-thorned Acacia. 

" horrida or Sinesis. Chinese Gleditschia. 

Gymnocladus. Kentucky Coffee-tree. 
Gymnocladus Canadensis. 

ViRGiLiA Lutea. Yellow-wood, Virgilia-tree. 

Cercis. Judas-tree. Eed-bud. 

Cercis Canadensis. Canada Judas-tree. 
" siliquastrum. European .Judas-tree. 



list of trees and shrubs. 163 

Ehamnace^. 

EiiAMNus. Buckthorn. 

Rhamnus catharticus. Common Buckthorn. 
*' frangula. 

Celastrace^. 

Staphylea. Bladder Nut. 

Staphylea trifolia. Three-leaved Bladder Nut. 
" pinnata. 

jEsculaceje. 

^^scuLus. Horse Chestnut. 

iEsculus Hippocastanum. Horse Chestnut. 

" rubicunda. 

" glabra. Ohio Buckeye. 

Pavia Eubra. Red Pavia. 
Pavia lutea. Yellow Pavia. 

Acerine^. 

Acer. Maple. 

Acer rubrum. Red Maple. 

dasycarpum. White Maple. 
" saccharinum. Sugar Maple.' Rock Maple. 

striatum. Striped Maple. 
" Negundo. Ash-leaved Maple, 
pseudo-platanus. *< Sycamore-tree 
platanoides. Norway Maple, 
campestre. European Field Maple, 
macrophyllum. 



164 practical landscape gardening. 

Anacardiace^. 

Ehus. Sumachi. 

Rhus typhina. Stag's Horn Sumach. 
" glabra. Smooth Sumach. 
" cotinus. Smoke- tree. 

Xanthoxylace^. 

Xaxthoxylum. Prickly Ash. 
Xanthoxylum Americanum. 

AiLANTnus GrLANDULOsA. Tree of Heaven. 

TlLIACE^. 

TiLiA. Lime-tree. Linden-tree. 
Tilia Americana. American Lime-tree. 
" alba. White Lime-tree. 
*' pubescens. Downy Lime-tree. 
" Europea. European Lime-tree. 

Magnoliace^. 

Lymodexdron. Tulip-tree. 
Lyriodendron tulipifera. 

Magnolia. Magnolia-tree. 

Magnolia acuminata. Cucumber-tree. 

•• grandiflora. Evergreen Magnolia. 
" tripetala. Umbrella Magnolia. 
** macrophylla. 



LIST OE TREES AND SHRUBS. 165 

Magnolia cordata. 
" purpurea. 

SCROPnULARIACE^. 

Paulownia Imperialis. Paulownia. 

I 

CLIMBING SHRUBS. 

Glycine Frutescens. 

Glycine CMnensis. 

Bignonia (Tecoma) Crucigera. 

Bignonia grandiflora. Trumpet Flower. 
" radicans. 

Hedera Helix. Ivy. 
Hedera quinquefolia. 

Aristolochia Sipiio. Birtliworth. Dutchman's Pipe. 

Periplaca Gr^ca. Silk Vine. 
LoxiCERA (Caprifolium) Peryclemenu3i. Woodbine. 
Lonicera sempervirens. Evergreen Honeysuckle. 

" flexuosum. Chinese Honeysuckle. 

" flava. Yellow Honeysuckle. 

" Belgica. 

Clematis. Virgin's Bower. 
Clematis viticella. 
" ooerulea. 
" crispa. 



166 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

Clematis Florida. 
'* flammula. 

" Seibolciii. 

Amelopsis Hederacea. Virginia Creeper. 

]\Ienispermum Canadense. Canada Moonseed. 



Celastrus Scandens. Climbing Staff-tree. 



FINE-FLOWERING SHRUBBERY. 
Amorpha Fruticosa. 
Amorplia fragrans. 
" glabra. 

Amygdalus. Almond. 

Amygdalus communis. Double. 
«♦ incana. 

AucuBA Japonica. Japan Gold-dust-tree. 

Berberis. Barberry. 
Berberis vulgaris. 
" atropurpurea. 

" Chinensis. 

Buxus. Box-tree. 
Buxus sempervirens, 

Calycanthus Perax. Sweet-scented Shrub. 
Calycanthus Florida. 

Ceanothus Americana. Jersey Tea, 



LIST OF TREES AND SHRUBS. 167 

Cephalantiius Occidentalis. Button-bush. 

COLUTEA ArbORESCENS. 

Colutea orientalis. ' 

CoRCHERus. Japonic A. 

CORIARIA MyRTIFOLIA. 
COTONEASTER ACUMINATA. 

Cotoneaster melanocarpa. 

Cydonia. Quince. 
Cydonia Sinensis. 

Cytisus Alpinus. 
Cytisus La.burnuin. 
" purpureas. 

Deutzia Canescens. 
Deutzia scabra. 

DiRCA Palustris. Leather-wood. 

El^agnus Angustifolia. Bohemian Olive. 
Elaeagnus argentea. 

EvoNiMus Americana. Indian Arrow. 
Evonimus Europaeus. 
*' Japonicus. 

Genista Germanica. 
Genista tinctoria. 

Hyppoph^e Riiamnoides. 



168 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

Hibiscus Syriacus. 

Hydrangea Arborescens 
Hj^rangea hortensis. 

LiGusTRUM VuLGARE. Prim. Privet. 

Lonicera Tartarica. Tartarian Honeysuckle. 

Myrica Gale. Sweet Gale. 

Philadelphus Coronarius. Jasmin. Syringa. 
Philadelphus cordifolius. 
" grandiflorus. 

Pyrus Japonica. 
Pyrus indica. 
" torminalia 
" nivalia 

Eibes Atropurpureum. Currant. 
Ribes aureum. 
*' palmatum. 
" Gordonianum. 

BUBUS PRUTICOSUS. 
Rubus odoratus. 

SoPHORA Japonica. 
Sophora pendula. 

Spir^a Lanceolata. 
Spiraea corymbosa. 
" rotiindifolia. 



LIST OF TREES AND SHRUBS. 169 

Spiroea prunifolia. 
" ulmifolia. 

Symphouicakpus Mexicana. Snowberry. 

Tamarix Gallica. 
Tamarix Germanica. 

Syringa "Vulgaris. Lilac. 
Syringa Chinensis. 
" Persica. 

SHRUBS REQUIRING PEAT OR BOG-EARTH. 
Azalea Glauca. 
Azalea nudiflora. 
" pontica. 

Androhieda Acuminata. 
Andromeda polifolia. 

Kalmia. American Laurel. 
Kalmia latifolia. 
" angustifolia. 
" rubra. 
" glauca. 

Ledrum. Labrador Tea. 
Ledrum latifolium. 
" suaveolens. 

Prinos. Winterberry. 
Prinos glaber. Tackberry. 
" verticillatus. 
" Isevigatus. 

15 



170 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

Ehododendron. Eose-bay. 
Rhododendron ponticum. 

" maximum. American Rose-bay 

" viscosum. 

« Caucasicum. 

«< macrocarpum. 



PART 11. 

ORNAMENTAL IMPROVEMENTS. 



CHAPTER XX. 



IMPROVEMENTS. 



Improvements of ground are of various kinds, 
according to the use intended to be made of the 
place to be improved. Thus the farmer " im- 
proves" his place by cutting down the growth of 
centuries, to make room for his fields of wheat 
and corn, and, to his eyes, a flourishing field of 
grain is an object for especial admiration. 

The market-gardener delights in seeing high 
piles of manure — and a prosperous cabbage-patch 
is, to him, a fit subject upon which to expatiate. 
The cattle grazer dwells with pleasure upon im- 
mense tracts of pasture; and the city-bred land 
speculator views a tract of land only in reference 

to its eligibility for "building-sites." 

( 171 ) 



172 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

Tlie Landscape Gardener's view, however, par- 
takes partly of all tliese, and his aim, in "improv- 
ing," is to unite, as far as possible, three great 
requisites : heauty, comfort^ and profit 

In his contemplated improvement, the propri- 
etor has, of course, the choice between the different 
styles of laying out grounds ; the ancient Geomet- 
rical style, and the more modern, called " Land- 
scape Gardening." He may adopt either, but should 
never allow himself to make up a mixture of both 
styles, as he can do naught thereby but create con- 
fusion. 

As before said, an improvement should be the 
result only of mature consideration, and its details, 
previous to execution, should be carefully examined 
in all their bearings upon, and relations to, the 
peculiarities of the grounds to be improved to the 
■svishes of the proprietor; and last, but not least, 
to the amount of money he wishes to expend. 

The professional Landscape Gardener, when con- 
sulted upon a contemplated improvement, must lay 
aside all individual prejudices in favor of this or 
that peculiarity. His business is to advance, as 
far as may be, the principles of true taste in his 



IMPROVEMENTS. 173 

art, and to apply tliese, as well as he can, to the 
wishes of the proprietor. He should not obsti- 
nately insist upon a particular Plan, but must 
remember that his plan must be made to fit to 
the ground — and not the ground to the plan. 

The employer, on the other hand, should not be 
too ready to take advice of other persons. Differ- 
ent persons take different views of the same mat- 
ter, each looking from his own narrow point of 
view. Almost any one can suggest an alteration, 
but only he who has studied the art, is able to 
lay out an improvement. Neither is it right that 
the employer should be too obstinately set upon 
the carrying out of his own wishes. It is plain 
that he who has made a subject the study of his 
lifetime, must know more about it than he who 
has scarcely given it a thought. Obstinacy in 
adhering to peculiar notions, is one of 'the great- 
est difficulties in the way of the " professional gar- 
dener. '^ 

Property may often be highly improved, and its 
cash value largely increased, at comparatively small 
expense, provided the improvements be carried into 
effect under the direction of a man of taste; 



174 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

otherwise, it is highly probable that the most costly 
and elaborate operations will but excite disgust, 
after the first charm of novelty has worn off. 
There is, however, in this country, a tendency to 
lavish large sums of money on splendid mansions, 
while the grounds surrounding such are left in a 
wretched state of neglect. A man erects a dwell- 
ing at an expense of several thousand dollars, but 
thinks it an outrageous imposition if asked to lay 
out some hundreds in improving and ornamenting 
the surrounding grounds, setting out shade trees, 
etc. It is evident that this is wrong policy, and 
that both improvements should be carried on at 
the same time, and to the same extent, in order 
to maintain a harmony, without which there is no 
beauty. 

But let the improvements be as costly, and as 
tastefully made, as may be, they will be of little 
use without proper keeping. It is a matter of 
much difficulty to make domestics and children 
keep everything in such perfect order and regu- 
larity as is necessary; and without perfect clean- 
liness and order, tho choicest patterns will soon 
lose their impressive beauty, become indistinct, their 



IMPROVEMENTS. 175 

forms no longer strike the eye as beautiful, and 
soon all is confusion. It is necessary tliat the 
proprietor should keep a watchful eye over his 
household and dependents. Every breach against 
perfect order and cleanliness of keeping, should be 
strictly prevented. He should provide a place for 
everything, and should then see that everything is 
in its place, and nowhere else. The outhouses 
should be as conveniently situated as possible, and 
a regular and convenient drainage must be pro- 
vided. It will be found universally true, that the 
less trouble it is to he clean about a place, the charter 
it will be kept Let those interested bear this in 
mind. 

In regard to outbuildings, it may be well to 
observe here, that when the style of architecture 
of the main buildings is peculiar, it has a fine 
effect to imitate it, to a certain extent, in the 
smaller outbuildings — keeping up thus a harmony 
or connection between the mansion and its depen- 
dencies, which never fails to catch the attention, 
and please the mind as a suitable harmony of 
parts. 



CHAPTER XXL 

CITY LOTS. 

If it were true, as many assert and believe, 
that a city building must, to be beautifully situ- 
ated, be surrounded by a regular parterre or ter- 
race, tbe Landscape Gardener would find no work 
in tbe cities, and bis art would be confined to tbe 
country. But tbe same taste, wbicb demands a 
stiff terrace, as tbe only thing in perfect barmony 
witb tbe straight and angular bouse walls of the 
city, should, to be consistent, likewise clip and shear 
of their fair proportions, the shade trees planted 
on the streets, as they surely fail to harmonize 
with the appearance of tbe house. But no one 
thinks of asking that. The fact is, that parterres 
and terraces are often introduced by a false taste, 
or a lack of taste, in individuals, rather than from 

a necessity existing therefor. Tbe eye which has 
(176) 



CITY LOTS. 177 

grown tired of a monotonous succession of houses, 
smoke and dust, will rest with delight upon a 
group, however small, tastefully, and ahove all, natu- 
rally disposed, among green turf. We are here 
pleased not so much by the actual beauty of the 
group, as by the pleasing contrast, or change from 
the monotonous succession of buildings, to a scene, 
seemingly cut out of a smiling Landscape. Who 
has not felt his breast filling with pleasurable sen- 
sations, as, after rambling for hours through the 
crowded streets of a city, he suddenly looks up 
and sees rising before him a lofty tree, spreading 
its huo'e branches over the surroundins; dwellino's? 
w^ho has not, on a hot summer^s day, stood beneath 
the shade of such a tree, and bared his brow to 
the breezes whose abodes seem ever to be among 
its branches — and who, on just such a day, has 
not hurried in disgust past the bare and sun- 
scorched terrace or parterre, enviously raised above 
the level of the common sidewalk? 

Let us have as many Garden-spots in our cities 
as possible, for it is there they are most needed. 
Many of the little spaces for garden-spots are, 
to be sure, so small and confined that it would 



178 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

be a vain attempt to give to tliem any natural 
appearance. But in many others there is a chance 
where the gardener may produce just such a little 
natural scene, as would make an appropriate con- 
trast to the masses of brick and mortar. Yet in 
nine cases out of ten, the ground is strictly leveled 
and terraced up, the plants stuck down in straight 
rows or circles, and we are called upon to admire 
the " improvement. '^ It is in accordance, too, with 
this wretched taste, that the trees having the stiff- 
est, most ungainly shapes, are most admired in 
cities. The finest specimens of the Pine or Eir, 
are pronounced shapeless, while the Ked Cedar, the 
Arbor-vitae, and the Juniper, when well trimmed, 
and looking like brushwood pyramids, are pro- 
nounced beautiful. Thus many little garden -spots 
in the city, and also in the country, show naught 
but straight rows and avenues of such trees, cov- 
ering and concealing the most favorable aspects of 
the house. Where such exist, the best thing to 
do with the trees, is to place them in little groups 
at the corners of the house, where they will add 
somewhat to its appearance and importance. If 
the house is such that it is not desirable that its 



CITY LOTS. 179 

front should l)c seen, it is better to conceal all 
defects by Climbers and running Eoses. 

To form a Natural scene before a bouse in tbe 
city, a due proportion must be kept up between 
tbe amount and bight of the plantation, and the 
size of the ground. If unnaturally crowded, they 
will not be fully supported by the ground, and if 
too sparse, the place will look bald and bare. 
Walks should be very highly finished, and should 
strike the eye by their neatness, and the correct- 
ness of their shape. None but the choicest and 
most beautiful Flowers and Shrubs should be admit- 
ted in such small Gardens as we find in cities, in 
order that they may make up in quality, what they 
must lack in quantity. Such flowers as the Mag- 
nolia Grandiflora, Eemontant and Bourbon Eoses, 
and among Fine-flowering Shrubs, Spiraeas, Pyrus 
Japonicas, Lilacs, and Honeysuckles, are suitable to 
embellish city garden-spots. (For further descrip- 
tions of Flowers and Shrubs, see under head of 
Flower-Garden.) 

Fig. 1, represents a City-lot, of ordinary size. 
The house and back-building are easily distin- 
guished, being of darker tint. The house is 



180 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

Fig:. 1. 




supposed to stand elevated from 
the street. The entrance pave- 
ment, A, is divided into two equal 
platforms by a flight of steps. 
A pavement leads around the 
house, and terminates at the 
stable, in the rear of the lot. 
The two squares, in the back 
lot, are intended to be grass- 
plots. A few lofty trees may 
be planted in them, to aflPord shade and shelter to 
the building. 

To improve the empty square in front of the 
building, two plans may be adopted. The one would 
be, to raise a terrace in the same manner as the 
entrance steps rise ; thus dividing the ground into 
two platforms. On the upper platform a few 
straight-growing Evergreen sentinels might be plant- 
ed, to hide the greater part of the house entirely 
from sight, when full grown ; on the lower plat- 
form some pretty Bushes or Flowers may be set out, 
also, but by all means in a straight row. Adopt- 
ing this plan, the proprietor follows the ordinary 
fashion, prevailing in so many of our city Gar- 



CITY LOTS. 181 

dens. The improvement will thus be justified, 
not by its tastefulness, but only as being a fac- 
simile to the neighbors' lots. 

The other, and, perhaps, more advisable plan 
would be, to grade the ground to a concave shape, 
gradually rising from the base of the fence to the 
level of the upper pavement ; thus the square would 
appear to be a bit of naturally undulating ground, 
more liable to please the eye of taste. The ground- 
plan. Fig. 1, shows the shrubbery ^jid flowers con- 
veniently lodged in appropriate situations. A Foun- 
tain near the upper pavement, would be of good 
effect. Around the pond some of the choicest 
Flowers may find their places. A cluiap of Ever- 
greens may, also, be placed before the corner of 
the house, to conceal the back road from view ; a 
group of Shrubbery and Flowers could be planted 
around the two sides of the lot. The highest 
plants should be set near the fence — gradually 
diminishing in size. The margin of the group 
should be enlivened with the brightest flowers, droop- 
ing down on the velvet grass. 

Arranged in such a manner, a city Garden, how- 
ever small and cooped up, will form a pleasing 



182 



PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



foreground to the building, whose front can be 
seen from the street, to the best advantage. By 
the belt of Shrubbery surrounding its open sides, 
it receives some degree of privacy, and the shrubs 
and flowers composing the group, are seen to best 
advantage from the front windows ; care should, 
however, be taken to allow sufficient room for a 
verdant Grass-plot, always to be kept in the most 
polished style possible. 

In Fig. 2, the 
ground-plan of a 
double house and 
double lot is easily 
recognized. The 
breadth of the 
main entrance walk, from the gate to the front-door, 
should have due proportion to the size and im- 
portance of the house ; if the front side of the 
building is elegant, the main Walk should be broad 
and conspicuous also ; if the building is a hum- 
ble cottage, the main walk may be narrower. 

From the main walk a Side-walk turns off to 
the side entrance of each house. A back lot is 
left to every house, in the rear of the lot. A 




CITY LOTS. 183 

border of turf is between the bouse and the side- 
walks. The space for outward improvement being 
verj limited, only a bed for smaller flowers on 
each side of the walk can be made. A belt of 
shrubbery may surround the limits of the lot, the 
taller shrubs being placed at the sides, to con- 
ceal the back lot of each house. The part front- 
ing the street should be composed of smaller, fine- 
flowering Shrubs, and showy Flowers, which can thus 
conveniently be seen from the windows of the house. 
However narrow and small such a belt may be, it may 
be so arranged as to appear like a natural group, 
and not as a wreath, by boldly breaking its outlines. 



In Fio:. 3, 



a larger space of 



Fig. 3. 



ground is offered for improvement. £^ 



The dwelling is situated in the 
middle of the lot ; in front, a lawn 
has been laid off; the rear of the 
lot is employed partly for a Kitch- 
engarden, and partly for the stable 
and back-buildings. Both kitchen- 
garden and stable are concealed 
from view, by groups of shrubbery, 
planted before them. 




184 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

The drive, on tlie riglit-liand side, is tlie ingress 
carriage way, wliile tlie left-hand side-drive gives 
free access from the gate to the stable. The junc- 
tion of both drives, at the corner of the building, 
will afford room enough for turning the carriages, 
without a circle before the house — often made for 
that purpose. The groups situated on the front 
lawn should be made up with the choicest of Shrub- 
bery and Flowers ; the highest plants being placed 
in the middle of the group, gradually coming down 
till the smaller flowers close its margin. A belt 
of higher Shrubbery is planted around the limits of 
the lot, to give privacy to its interior. Some fine 
specimens of trees or shrubs may occasionally be 
placed before the groups, near to the walk, where 
they may be seen to the best advantage. 

A group of Evergreens, at the corner of the 
building, as shown in figure 3, will appear to good 
advantage. In the border surrounding the other 
side of the house, Climbing plants may be planted, 
to be trained on the wall, and to shade the porch, 
on the back part of the building. A numerous 
collection of plants can be cultivated in a small 
garden, as shown in this figure. 



CITY LOTS. 



185 




The design represented Fig. 4. 

in this figure, might con- 
veniently be executed on 
a square block in a city, 
to suit the wishes of an 
amateur of Flowers. The 
dwelling, A, is situated in 
one corner of the square ; 
a conservatory, b, is built adjoining the house. 

The ground is laid out in the ordinary flower- 
garden style, having various regular Mower-beds, 
in which a rich collection of flowers is to be cul- 
tivated. Being situated between four public streets, 
it will be necessary to surround the Garden with 
a dense belt of shrubbery and trees. This belt 
may be composed of various families of trees and 
shrubs, arranged in such a manner as to produce 
a pleasing variety of masses of foliage, differing 
in hight, shape and tints. 

A Walk affords a free circulation through the 
ground, striking, in its course through the lawn, 
a shady Bower, surrounded by the shrubbery of the 
belt; it terminates at a back gate of the Garden. 
The various kinds of flowers are arranged on the 



186 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

"beds according to their families or colors, each sec- 
tion of the hed consisting of but one family or 
color. 

Fine sjoecimens of Evergreens and deciduous Shrubs 
are growing on the lawn, where they may be seen 
to most advantage, and have sufficient room to 
attain their full size and beauty. The Gardenesque 
Style, mentioned on a former page, will find its 
suitableness to such gardens. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

THE PLEASURE-GROUND, 

Is the name given to that part of the grounds 
more immediately surrounding the mansion or dwell- 
ing. Coming more directly and constantly under 
the eye of the inhabitants and visitors, it is neces- 
sary that this part should receive an especial degree 
of culture and ornamentation, and that more than 
common attention should he paid to its after keeping. 

On places of small extent, the most appropri- 
ate place for the Pleasure-Ground, and that where 
it is usually found, is in front of the house, gen- 
erally, on such places as are most open to public 
view. In such cases, the hack parts are devoted 
to the Fruit and Vegetable-gardens. On places of 
greater extent, and where the grounds adjoining 
the mansion are immediately connected with park 

or forest scenery, it is necessary to have a barrier 

( 1S7 ) 



188 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING, 

of some kind to keep cattle out of tlie Pleasure- 
Ground. A sunk fence, or one of wire, not too 
heavily constructed, and painted green, will be most 
suitable for this purpose, as being least obtrusive 
to the eye, and therefore presenting less obstruc- 
tion to an extended and unbroken view. 

On the Pleasure-Ground, the gardener lavishes 
his choicest treasures of trees, flowers and shrub- 
bery, making use of the most pleasing and tasteful 
forms in their arrangement. To the ornaments 
afforded him by nature, he may here also add, 
without impropriety, Statues, Fountains, Vases, and 
other works of art, suitable to place among gar- 
den scenery. A graceful and correct, and above 
all, harmonious disposition of the different parts, 
in their bearings to each other, and to the dwell- 
ing they surround and ornament, is then only 
necessary to create a pleasing and perfect picture. 

In laying out the Pleasure-Grounds, the gardener 
or proprietor may use as he wishes, the plain and 
natural Landscape style, or the more intricate, but 
often no less pleasing Geometrical style. But, 
whatever mode is adopted, it should be in keep- 
ing with the building whose surrounding it is 



THE PLEASURE-GROUND. 189 

intended to embellisli, and above all, the entire 
work should be consistent. One style should be 
chosen, and adhered to throughout. Nothing looks 
so poor and tasteless, as a mixture of the styles. 
Thus, it is ridiculous to see parterres, and labo- 
riously constructed geometrical flower-beds, placed in 
the midst of a Lawn, or to see walks, in one 
place straight and stiff, in another, easy and flow- 
ing; or Plantation, here disposed in regular shapes, 
shaven and trimmed, in another place growing in 
irregular, naturally-shaped groups or masses. Such 
a confounding of styles is a grave error, but too 
often met with in this country. 

In calculating the expenses connected with a 
Pleasure-Grround, it must be borne in mind that 
keeping is as important a matter, as laying out. 
The more tasteful and elaborate the design, the 
greater will also be the trouble and expense of 
keeping, and as cleanliness and order are the two 
chief requisites to beauty in gardening, it is well 
to think of this, in this country, where compara- 
tively few working gardeners are kept. If the 
improver has not leisure or means to spare to 
have an elaborately-laid-out Pleasure-Ground kept 



190 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

in perfect order and neatness, he will do much 
better to choose a style of emhellishment which, 
though perhaps more simple, and to his taste less 
beautiful, he will eventually find much more pleasing, 
because easier to keep in order. In this country, 
where labor is very dear, every design, however 
beautiful or tasteful, must recommend itself chiefly 
by the comparative ease with which it may be 
kept ; else, if carried out, as soon as it loses the 
charm of novelty, it will become a tiresome, costly 
burden, which will eventually only excite the dis- 
gust of the proprietor. Many a pleasure-ground, 
laid out in a costly and fanciful manner, we have 
seen changed into a simple lawn, whose smooth 
and pleasant turf gave much more pleasure than 
had the intricate and laboriously-arranged flower- 
beds and parterres. The improver should there- 
fore aim to produce in his Pleasure-Ground, such 
features of Natural scenery as, while sufficiently 
showing the hand of art, will yet require but lit- 
tle care or attention. Such are groups and masses 
of lofty trees, which will, with comparatively little 
expense, grow up, and improve from year to year 
in beauty and shade. There is, to our taste, much 



THE PLEASURE-GROUND. 191 

greater beauty in a verdant Lawn, enriched by 
masses and groups of flowers, and diversified by 
noble trees and shrubs, in whose shade rustic seats 
and benches may invite to rest and repose, than 
in all the fanciful gimcracks, and 'pretty things, 
that some gardeners have in common with the 
confectioner, and which are assuredly more in place 
when decorating a cake, than when embellishing a 
pleasure-ground. 

The Pleasure-Ground should possess, if possible, 
charms for all seasons of the year. The flowers, 
shrubs and trees which bloom and bud earliest in 
Spring, should be placed nearest the house, in order 
to extend to its inhabitants as early as possible, 
the cheering influences of Spring. The finest 
masses of flowers and shrubbery should always be 
placed where they may show to best advantage 
from the windows. To enliven the scenery in win- 
ter. Evergreens should be provided; these also add 
much to the beauty and comfort of the place in 
summer. They should not, however, surround the 
house at regular distances, like sentinels. Grouped 
in natural forms, at the sides of the house, they 
will create a fine efiect ; and when the dwelling 



192 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GAPvDENING. 

is situated at a little distance from tlie street, and is 
fronted by a lawn ; a tasteful planting of Evergreens 
will add very mucli to tlie appearance of the place. 
The surface of the ground should be slightly 
undulating, rather than flat; the grass on the lawn, 
carefully tended with the scythe and roller, should 
be short and dense; the roads and walks should 
excite admiration by their easy, graceful lines, 
and by their firmness and smoothness, and the 
distinct and cleanly keeping of their borders; and 
fine masses and groups of beautiful Shrubs and 
Flowers, should greet the eye in every direction. 
To break the heat of summer, wide-spreading 
forest trees should cast a cooling shade over the 
house and the adjacent walks. Under these trees, 
beside the walks, resting-places should be inter- 
spersed, from whence the finest Views should open, 
as by accident. As a general rule, the north 
and west sides of the grounds are best suited for 
Evergreens, while Flowers and flowering Shrubs are 
best placed on the south and east. 

Pleasure-Grounds of small extent, surrounded by 
other property, or bordered by the highway, may 
have privacy given them, by suitable Plantation. 





"1 Iff "'I Pl! ■S*'^ ^ :^ll 



THE PLEASURE-GROUND. 193 

Where this is done, sufficient room mnst be allowed 
for outside views, while unsightly objects are, as 
much as possible, concealed; thus, the mud of 
the street may be hid from sight by plantations 
of Eoses, Jasmines, etc., as these would not con- 
ceal from us the movements of passing objects. 

The Kitchen-garden and Orchard should be sur- 
rounded by Plantation; and all buildings belonging 
to these departments, as the fruit and dry houses, 
in the orchard, and the hotbeds, pits and green- 
houses, in the Kitchen-garden, should be placed 
near them. The Kitchen-garden should be, if pos- 
sible, near the stables, for convenience in obtaining 
manure. Greenhouses, where built in a tasteful 
style of architecture, and thus assuming the char- 
acter of conservatories, may properly make part of 
the embellishments of the Pleasure-Ground. But 
where they consist simply of square walls, with an 
ugly, slanting glass roof, they can not be admit- 
ted to form part of elegant scenery. Proprietors, 
sometimes, spend considerable sums of money in the 
erection and furnishing of a greenhouse, and of course 
have a great desire to give it a conspicuous posi- 
tion on their grounds, not for any beauty they 
17 



194 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

might fancy such an object to possess, but simply 
to make evident to the passing world, that they 
are rich enough to afford a luxury of that kind. 
We need not say, that this is not an evidence of 
taste. Many gardeners, too, of more experience in 
growing plants and cultivating vegetables, than taste 
in laying out grounds, naturally give an undue 
importance to the "greenhouse," which has been 
the scene of their most extensive operations. And 
so the ignorance of the gardener combines with 
the vanity of the proprietor, in destroying the har- 
mony and beauty which should be the main points 
in a Pleasure-Ground. 

Where the distance from the dwelling to the 
highway or street is insufficient to admit of a wind- 
ing approach, a straight road from the gate to the 
front door, with, if needed, a circle, for a turn for 
carriages, is the simplest way. To construct this, 
no gardener is needed, as any common day-laborer 
can do it as well, and cheaper. 

Where a gardener is employed to do a plain 
job of this kind, if a man of little taste, as but 
too often happens, he invariably thinks it neces- 
sary to introduce some little fanciful additions of 



THE PLEASURE-GROUND. 



195 



his own, by tlie aid of which he generally suc- 
ceeds, if permitted, in spoiling the whole work. 
Where simplicity is attempted, it should be duly car- 
ried out; where intricacy is desired, it can be had; 
but a grafting of one upon the other will never 
succeed. 

In Figure 5, the Fig. 5. 

house is situated be- 
tween groups of flowers 
and shrubbery. The 
foot entrance of the 
Garden is from one 
street directly fronting 
the ground. The car- 
riage-way is from the 
lower street; it passes 
on from the gate to 
the front of the house, 
and from there to the 
stables, situated on the 

A, House; B, Fountain; C, Stable-yard; 
back part OI the pre- jy Kitchen-garden ; E, Carriage-entrance ; P, 
-n 1 . 1 ,1 Foot-entrance; G, Orchard. 

mises. Behind tne 

house, the outhouses are situated, in a group of 

Shrubbery. 




196 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

A group of shade-trees is planted at tlie back 
corner of the house. A belt of trees and shrubs 
conceals the boundary fence of the front place. 

The Vegetable-garden is placed back of the 
house, joining the stable-yard, and surrounded by 
a belt of Shrubbery. The walk leading to the 
Kitchen-garden, passes through a group of lofty 
trees, which afford shade to the house. 

Two groups of Flowers are in front of the 
house; also a group of flowers on each side of 
the house. 

Passing the house, the approach road enters a 
group of Evergreens, on its way to the stable- 
yard ; fruit-trees are planted in the lawn. 

The margin of the belt surrounding the front 
Garden, should be composed of flowering Shrub- 
bery and Flowers, united in bold, conspicuous masses ; 
before some of the most prominent parts of the 
groups single, choice specimen-plants may be set 
between the grass, as shown in figure 5. 

A Plan, as shown in figure 5, is easily accom- 
modated to a place of one to three acres extent. 

In Fig. 6, the Ground-plan of a Pleasure-Ground 
and Kitchen-garden is represented. 



THE PLEASURE-GROUND. 



197 



Fig. 6. 



if ^ 



^^^J /r ^ ii J J 



i d- 




The house and stable are fronting the high- 
way. On both sides of the house, an entrance is 
allowed. One part of the Pleasure-Ground repre- 
sents a scene of ever- 
greens ; the other of 
groups of Shrubbery 
and Flowers. 

In F, a pavilion will 
find a convenient place. 
In E, the orchard is 
situated. The trees are 
not planted in straight 
rows, but must form a 
Grove. A few giant 
forest trees are seen 
on the lawn. 

The Yegetable-gar- 
den is laid off in four 
squares, having a cir- 
cular flower-bed in its center. Every square is 
surrounded by a border of Flowers — pyramid fruit- 
trees stand at equal distances. 

A Plan, as shown in this figure, is well adapted 
to a place of two or three acres. 




A, House ; B, Stable ; C, Kitchen-gar- 
den ; D, Flower-lawn ; E, Orchard ; F, 
Pavilion. 



198 



PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



Fig. 7. The house is surrounded by a grove of 
Forest trees ; the Carriage-road turns from the gate 
to the left; at the right, the ground is falling, 
making an approach road impossible. There are 
Fig- 7"- D three leading scenes to 

be remarked in this 
Plan: The Grove sur- 
rounding the house ; 
the Evergreen drive, 
from the gate to the 
house; and the Foot- 
entrance walk, which 
winds through a mass 
of shrubbery and flow- 
ers. The belt which 
is to hide the fence, 
may be composed of 
taller trees and shrubs, 

A, House; B, Grove of Forest trees; C, J^ those plaCCS where 
Frout-en trance ; D, Back-entrance ; E, Sta- 
ble ; F , Front lawn. no OUtsido VieW IS 

wished. In other places, where distant views are 
desirable, smaller shrubs are selected. The Ever- 
greens are grouped together to show to best effect. 
The Shrubbery and Flowers, on the opposite side, 




THE PLEASURE-GROUND. 



199 



Fiff. 8. 







A, House. 

B, Stable. 

C, Fountain. 



D, Terrace. 

E, Temple. 

F, Seats. 



THE PLEASURE-GROUND. 201 

have to be grouped closely, so as to conceal the 
presence of two walks, when passing in one. 

Fig. 8. The house is situated on a terrace, sur- 
rounded by a parterre, with flower-beds ornamented 
with Vases and Statues. Before the house, a lar^e 
front lawn extends to the gate. The Carriage-road 
passes through a grove of lofty forest trees, which 
are worthy to be preserved. 

The upper part of the front lawn is ornamented 
with Evergreens which are grouped in masses. The 
Foot-entrance gate is in one corner of the place. 
The Walk passes a temple or loavilion, and resting- 
place, with seats shaded by the surrounding belt. 
Before the pavilion a group of Shrubbery is planted, 
to which masses of showy Flowers are joined, which 
will be favorably seen from the terrace. 

The dotted straight lines, are to show the finest 
Views enjoyed from the house, the one being 
directed to the pavilion, the other to the distance, 
in the surrounding country. The Stable-yard is 
concealed from view by a belt of shrubbery ; being 
near the main building, the outhouses may be 
built near the stable. 



202 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

The walls of the terrace are covered with Climb- 
ing plants, planted in the four smaller groups. 
The outside belt, planted in some places, is neces- 
sary to give privacy to the place. 

Pig. 9. In this Ground-plan it is attempted to 
show three different scenes ; the first, is in front of the 
mansion, being composed of groups of choice trees, 
fine-flowering Shrubbery, and an abundance of 
Plowers ; the second is a mass of Evergreens, screen- 
ing the Yegetable-garden ; the third is composed 
of lofty primitive forest trees, to which some dense 
groups of trees and undergrowth have been added, 
to conceal the junction of the walks. 

The Vegetable-garden is conveniently situated on 
one side of the place; the walk leading to it has 
a row of fruit-trees on each side. The Views to 
the distant country are shown by three dotted lines. 
The stable is surrounded with trees and shrubbery. 

The groups in the front part of the place are 
made up with fine-flowering Shrubbery and Flow- 
ers, and contrasted by trees between them. The 
main entrance is in front of the house, opposite 
the fountain. 



THE PLEASURE-GROUND. 



203 



Fig. 9. 




A, Main Lawn. E, A dense group of Shrubbery, in 

B, Vegetable Garden. ■ • which the Outliouses may be con- 

C, Flower Lawn. cealed. 

D, Groups of fine flowering Shnib- F, Grove of Forest Trees. 

bery. G, Views to the distant countiy. 



THE PLEASURE-GROUND. 

Fiff. 10. 



205 




A, House. 

B, Parterre. 

C, Stable. 

D, Carriage-entrance. 

E, Kitchen-garden. 

1, Norway Spruce. "White Spruce. 

2, White PineB and Arbor-vitae. 



o, lu'd Cedars. Hemlock Spruce in 
front. 

4, Balsam Fir and Picea Fraserii. 

5, Austrian Pine. Yew. 

6, Larches. 

7, Crataegus. Almonds in front. 

8, Group of Maples. CataJpa. 



THE PLEASURE-GROUND. 207 

Fig. 10. This Plan is to represent two leading 
scenes ; tlie one this side of the main carriage- 
road, is made up of a rich collection of Evergreens ; 
a Parterre of Plowers is in front of the house. The 
other is composed of deciduous Trees, Shrubs, and 
Flowers. The various walks meet in a thicket 
of trees and undergrowth, through which no second 
walk should be visible. 

A grove of Forest Trees stands in the back 
part of the ground ; the Kitchen-garden is con- 
cealed by a belt of plantation. 

The t7'ees to make up the Grove may be 
selected from the families of the Maples, Poplars, 
Ash, Elm, etc. The groups composing the belt may 
have higher trees, and undergrowths of Eedbud, 
Dogwood, Hornbeam, etc. The Parterre, in front 
of the house, should contain a rich supply of Bul- 
bous plants for spring flowers and greenhouse 
plants, as Verbenas, Heliotropes, Salvias, etc., for fall 
flowers. 



SEE FIG. 10. 

9, Eoses. Verbenas in front. 13, HjT^pophae. Bohemian Olive. 

10, Mass of Roses. Psonias. Petunias. 14, Lilacs. Snowballs. 

11, Jasmines. Deuzia. Salvia. 1.5, Lonicera. Sophora- 

12, Tree Paeonias. 



208 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

The ground represented in Figure 11, might 
naturally be divided into two Lawns, extending on 
each side of the house. The Front-lawn is orna- 
mented with the choicest Trees, Shrubs and Flowers ; 
the back part, with the Pond, has more of the 
picturesque. 

The shores of the Pond should be made with 
Eockwork, and planted out with Ehododendrons, 
Kalmias, Ferns, etc.; the belt, surrounding the pond, 
should be composed of higher trees, t^ shade the 
plants around the pond. A Summer-house or pavil- 
ion may be placed Aear the pond, under the shade 
of the belt. Several clumps of trees are planted 
on one side of the pond ; they should be com- 
posed of different kinds of trees, to contrast, in 
shape and size, with one another. The Vegetable- 
garden should be concealed from view by dense 
masses of Shrubbery. The poultry-yard is sur- 
rounded by a wire fence, and groups of shrubbery. 
Each group should be made up of one family of 
plants — the Gardenesque style being adopted. 



THE PLEASURE-GROUND. 



209 



Fiff. 11. 




A, Dwelling. 

B, Coaservatory. 

C, Ppultry-yard. 

D, Stable. 

E, Pond 

18 



F, Kitchen-garden. 

G, Orchard. 
H, Out-houses. 
I, Carriage-road. 
.T, Diptant Vlewn. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



THE FLOWER-GARDEN. 

In introducing Flowers among garden scenery, 
we may arrange and place them in two distinct 

Fio;. 12. 




A Parterre of Flowers; to be placed in front of the house or conserva- 
tory. The center is iron trellis-work, overrun with Climbing plants. In 
Its place a Fountain may be adopter!, and would be of good effect. 

( 211 ) 



212 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

styles, either or both of which may be adopted, 
according to the style or peculiar advantages of 
the place to be ornamented. 

By the Landscape-Gardener they are distributed 
in suitable places, among the natural scenery, and 
there help to enliven and diversify it. The dis- 
position made of Flowers, by the Landscape Gar- 
dener, it has been attempted to explain by the 
plans and directions for Pleasure-grounds, in a pre- 
ceding part of this w^ork. We therefore come 
now, naturally, to the other style, where Flowers 
are arranged in a spot or place, set apart espe- 
cially for their cultivation — as the Flower-Garden, 
or the Parterre. Li the disposition of flowers, 
here, the fancy or peculiar taste of the gardener 
or improver has much wider sway, nevertheless, he 
must allow himself to be guided by principles of 
harmony and congruity, or general fitness. 

The Parterre, placed, as it is, in front of the 
mansion, or the conservatory, should partake, as 
much as possible, of the character of the build- 
ings to which it belongs, rather than to the sur- 
rounding scenery. The Parterre may, and indeed 
should be, ornamented with Fountains, Statues, 



THE FLOWER-GARDEN. 213 

Vases, and otlier artistic embellisliments, in keep- 
ing with the style of the mansion, which will add 
to the elegance of its appearance. Its keeiDing 
should always he above reproach, for cleanliness 
and neatness. It must be laid out in symmetrical 
and pleasing figures, such as may suggest them- 
selves to the imagination of the improver or gar- 
dener. The lines in these figures should be very 
carefully and distinctly cut, and their regularity 
and symmetry of shape strictly preserved. None 
but the choicest flowers and shrubs are admitted 
into the Parterre, which is, indeed, the place where 
the proprietor may be appropriately lavish of expense, 
in procuring and introducing all that will tend 
to add to richness of appearance. 

A Parterre is peculiarly suitable, where a man- 
sion is built upon a terrace. Indeed, in such a 
situation, nothing else does so well. When the 
dwelling, however, stands on a level with the sur- 
rounding scenery, the introduction of a Parterre, 
in place of Natural scenery, is a question of indi- 
vidual taste, ruled, however, in some degree, by the 
style of architecture of the house. 

The Flower-GtABDEN, of greater extent than the 



214 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

parterre, partakes, however, greatly of its charac- 
ter. It should he situated conveniently near the 
house, and surrounded hy a helt of Shruhhery. 

Where a conservatory or greenhouse is kept, and 
this joins the house, the Flower-Garden may appro- 
priately join that. Many different Styles are adopted 
in laying out Flower-Gardens. A regular, geo- 
metrical design is often adopted, the heds heing, 
by that means, regularly divided hy walks, which 
renders access to them easy. The irregular method 
produces meandering walks, and beds of no regu- 
larity of shape or size. A third, and rather favor- 
ite mode, is to lay out the various beds in such 
shape as fancy or taste may suggest, in a smooth, 
well-dressed lawn. Beside these Flower-beds, speci- 
mens of fine Shrubs and smaller trees may be 
placed irregularly upon the lawn, and will there 
make a fine appearance. Many pleasing designs 
for the Flower-Garden may be formed of Rockwork. 

Flower-Gardens should be ornamented also with 
Statues, Vases, Seats, etc. Fountains and Pavilions 
also have a fine effect. The various species and 
varieties of Flowers should be collected in masses, 
each Flower-bed having its own family, species, or 



THE 

even its own color. 
To mix the different 
kinds of Flowers in- 
discriminately, in all 
the beds, will be pro- 
ductive of naught but 
confusion. 

The skillful gar- 
dener can produce 
harmony and great 
variety, by following 
the same principle 
here, that he would 
adopt when grouping 
his trees and shrubs, 
to create a Natural 
scenery. The end- 
less variety of shape, 
color and hight of 
the plants, as well 
as the difference in 
their seasons for 
blooming, must be 
taken into consider- 



FLOWER-GARDEN. 



215 



Fig. 13. 




A Flower-Garden, in the regular Geometri- 
cal style. This design would also be well 
adapted for a Parterre, in front of an elegant 
building. The numerous Flower-beds are sur- 
rounded with turf. The edges of the main 
walks might be of Box-tree. 



216 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

ation, and it is best to bring those kinds near 
eacb otber, which, by their peculiar character, will 
either create harmony or contrast. The Garden- 
esque Style, which has already been mentioned, finds 
its greatest appropriateness in the arrangement of 
Flower-Gardens. In adapting it to this use, how- 
ever, a very extensive and rich collection of Flow- 
ers and Shrubs is necessary. 

The Flower-Garden, if rightly laid out and 
kept, will prove an unfailing source of pleasure to 
the proprietor and the various members of his fam- 
ily. In it they will see and study the most beau- 
tiful exemplifications of Nature's wonderful works. 
Kept as it should be, however, the care and keep- 
ing required to bring out and perfect a constant 
succession of flowers, will be found to be tolerably 
expensive. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

CULTURE OF FLOWERS. 

No success need be expected in the cultivation 
of Flowers, if the soil in which they are to grow, 
be not of such quality as the plants require. The 
most genial soil — that best fitted for all flowers — 
is a rich loam, composed in part of sand, to make 
it dry and loose. Dryness, looseness, and a suffi- 
cient depth to enable it to resist the droughts of 
summer, are the three principal requisites for the 
soil of a Flower-garden. None but well-rotted ma- 
nure should be applied to Flower-beds. A supply 
of the ingredients used in the composition of the 
ground of Flower-beds, should be always near at 
hand, for the use of the gardener. 

The ground should be carefully spaded in spring 

or fall. During summer, the plants must be kept 

clear of weeds and the surface of the Flower-bed 
19 (217) 



218 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GAKDENING. 

should be repeatedly hoed and stirred up. In the 
dryest parts of summer, the tenderest Flowers should 
be regularly watered. 

The various Families and Species of Plants gen- 
erally grown in Flower-gardens may, according to 
their culture, be classed under three different heads: 

1. Annuals. 

2. Biennials and Perennials. 

3. Greenhouse Plants, which are planted out 
in the Garden during summer. 

Annuals. — The Annuals are sown in spring, 
and flower and decay the same season. It is well 
to sow some kinds in the hotbed, in early spring, 
which are to be transplanted, afterward, into the 
Garden. Others may be sown in March and April 
in the Garden, in the beds where they are desired 
to flourish. It is well to cover the seed with fine 
leaf-mould, when sown in the Garden. 

annuals, 

BEST ADAPTED FOR SOWING IN A HOT-BED.''* 

Ageratum Mexicanum. Blue Flowering Ageratum. 
Asclepias curassavica. Orange Swallowwort. 
Aster CMnensis. China Aster. Queen Margaret. 

*>Bui8t. "American Flower-Garden Directory." 



CULTURE OF FLOWERS. 219 

Anagallis Phillipsii. Blue PimperneL 

Balsamina horteusis. Balsam. Ladies' Slipper. 

Browallia alata. Blue and white Browallia. 

Caccalia coccinea. Scarlet Cacalia. Venus' Paint-brush. 

" sonchifolia. Orange Cacalia. 
Calandrinia discolor. 
Celosia cristata. Coxcomb. 
Centaurea Americana. American Sultan. 

" suaveolens. Yellow Sweet Sultan. 
Clarkia elegans. Elegant rose-colored Clarkia. 

*' pulchella. Purple Clarkia. 
Cleome grandiflora. Lilac Spider-plant. 
Clintonia elegans. Elegant blue Clintonia. 
Collinsia bicolor. Two-colored Collinsia. 
'« heterophylla. Lilac and white. 
Commelina coelestis. Blue Flowering Commeline. 
Dianthus Chinensis. China Pink. 

Gomphrena globosa. Globe Amaranth. Bachelor's Button. 
Hibiscus manihot. Yellow Hibiscus. 

" Africanus major. 
Helichrysum bracteatum. Yellow Everlasting. 
Xeranthemum lucidum. " " 

Lophospermum erubescens. Climber. 

" scandens. " 

Loasa latericia. Orange Red. " 
Malope alba and grandiflora. 
Mathiola annua. Ten weeks' Stock. 
Maurandia Barklayana. Blue Flowering Climber. 



220 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

Maurandia semperflorens. Pink Flowering Climber. 
Mesembrianthemum glaciale. Frozen Plant. 
" crystallinum. Ice Plant. 

Mimosa pudica. Sensitive Plant. 
Mimulus Wheelerii. Monkey Flower. 

" Smithii. 

" variegatus. 

" cardinalis. 

«« roseus. The Mimulus grows best in wet places. 
Petunia. An endless variety. 
Portulaca splendens. Purple Purslane. 

" Thellusonii. Ked Purslane. 
Scabiosa atropurpurea. 
SMzantbus retusus and pinnatus. 
Shortia Californica. Yellow Shortia. 
Tagetes. Marygold. 

Tropasolum atrosanguineum. Nasturtium. 
Thunbergia alata. Climber. 
«* alba. " 

•* curantiaca. " 

Verbena candidissima. White. 

" Mestonii. Scarlet. 

" Algerii. Rose, and other varieties. 
Vinca rosea. Madagascar Periwinkle. 

" alba. White Periwinkle. 
Zinnia elegans. 

" coccinea. 

" alba. 



CULTURE OF FLOWERS. 221 

ANNUALS, 

WmCH ARE BEST SOWN IN THE GARDEN. 

Adonis moniata. Pheasant's Eye. 
Amaranthus cauclatus. 

" hypocliondriacus. Prince's Feather. 

** tricolor. Three-colored. 

Brugmansia Wagmeria. 
Centaurea Moschata. 

" cretica. 
Collinsia grandiflora. Blue Collins-flower. 
Convolvulus minor. Blue Bind-weed. 
Calliopsis bicolor. Fair Eye. 
Collomia coccinea. Scarlet Flowered Collomia, 
Delphinium Ajacis. Rocket Larkspur. 

" consolida. Branching Larkspur. 

Euphorbia variegata. 
Escholzia crocea. Orange. 

" Calif ornica. Yellow. 
Erysimum Peroffskyanum. 
Gilia tricolor. Blooming all Summer. 

capitata. •* " 

Achillsefolia. " " 

Heliophilla Araboides. Blue Sunlove. 
Hieraceum mutabilis. Changeable Hawkweed. 
Helianthus Californicus. Dwarf Sunflower. 
Iberis amara. Candytuft. 
" umbellata. 



222 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

Iberis violacea. 

" odorata. 

" splendens. 
Ipomasa quamoclit. Cypress Vine. 
Latliyrus odoratus. Sweet Pea. 
Loasa lateritia. 
Lupinus. Many varieties. 
Mirabilis Jalapa. Marvel of Peru. 
Nemophila insignis and atomaria. 
(Enotliera. Tree Primrose. 
Papaver Marseillii. Double white Poppy. 
Reseda odorata. Mignonette. 
Tournefortia heliotropoides. Summer Heliotrope. 
Viola tricolor. Pansy. 

THE BIENNIALS AND PERENNIALS, 
Are sown early in Spring, but clo not flower 
until the second year. The Biennials decay after 
flowering. The Perennials, once well established 
in the ground, remain for many years, flowering 
every year. The roots, taken up in the Fall 
or Spring, can be divided ; the plants being thus 
easily propagated. They should be largely used 
in the Flower Garden, being of great beauty, 
and requiring but little attention. 



CULTURE OF FLOWERS. 223 

We shall name a few of the choicest kinds. 

Agrostemma coronaria. Rose Campion. 
Adonis vernalis. Yellow Adonis. 

Althcea rosea. Hollyhock. An endless variety of colors. 

Aconitum. Wolfsbane. A great many different species are culti- 
vated in Gardens. Aconitum album, A. bicolor, A. Napellus, 
A. ochroleucum, A. lycoctonum, A. versicolor, A. sinense 
(Seiboldii), are very desirable kinds. 

Anemone. Windflower. In Europe this genus of Flowers is highly 
esteemed; in this country it does not flourish, owing to the 
heat of the climate. 

Antirrhinum. Snapdragon. There are many varieties, of different 
colors; the latest of which in the market, are of great 
beauty. They are either perennial or biennial. 

Aquilegia Canadensis, A. glandulosa, A. leptoceras, and others. 

Alyssum maritimum, Alyssum saxatile. 

Aster. Perennial Aster, Aster amelloides, A. bicolor, A. formosus, 
A. grandiflorus, A. Novae-Angliae, A. Virginicus, and many 
other species. 

Asdepias. Many of the finest kinds are native plants of Amer- 
ica. Asclepias incarnata, A. nivea, A. tuberosa, are worthy 
a place in the Garden. 

Bdlis perennis (hortensis). Daisy. There are many double and 
very large and beautiful varieties. They require a shady, 
retired situation. 



224 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

Caltha palustris. Flore pleno. A well known, desirable border 
plant. 

Campanula. Contains many brilliant species: well adapted for 
Gardens. Campanula grandiflora, C. Alpina, C. grandis, 
C. glomerata plena, C. persicifolia, alba plena, and coerulea 
plena, C. urticaefolia, and others. Campanula media, and 
its varieties, are biennial. 

Chrysanthemum indicum. Winter Aster. Has an almost endless 
variety of size, color and shape. There are many new 
varieties of remarkable beauty. 

Chelone. (Native of America.) C. barbata, C. pulchella, C. Mexi- 
cana, and others. 

Chdranthus Cherii. The Garden Wallflower. There are many 
fine varieties; they are not hardy, and therefore require 
protection in Winter. Biennial. 

Convallaria majalis. The red and double varieties are of peculiar 
beauty. 

Coreopsis delphinifolia, C. grandiflora, C. tenuifolia, C. tripetris. 

Corydalis nobilis, C. spectabilis, C. formosa. 

Didamnus fraxinella, D. albus. 

Dracocephalum Louisianum, D. superbum, D. grandiflorum. 

Dianthtis. Pink. Dianthus Barbatus, Sweet William, many superb 
varieties exist of this species: D. plumarius, Double Pink, 
many varieties ; D. cariophyllus ; from this species the Carna- 
tion Pink and Picotee have been obtained ; D. Alpinus, D. for- 



CULTURE OF FLOWERS. 225 

mosus plena^ D. grandiflorus, D. superbus, D. atropurpureus, 
and others. 

Delphinium. Larkspur. D. grandiflorum, D. bicolor plena, D. si- 
nense, and its varieties, D. hybridum, D. siboricum plena, 
etc. They are very showy border-plants. 

Digitalis. Foxglove. D. purpurea, and varieties, are the best. 

Dodecatheon. Cowslip. D. media, D. elegans, D. gigantea striata. 
Galardia picta. G. aristata. 

Gentiana acaulis, G. macrophylla, G. asclepiadea, G. ochroleuca, 
etc. Very showy plants. 

Geuni coccineum, G. Japonicum. 

Glycine Apias. 

Hibiscus palustris, H. roseus, H. grandifiorus, etc. 

Gypso2)hylla paniculata. G. repens, G. saxifraga. 

Iris. Fleur-de-lis. 1. arenaria, L Apollon, L Germanica, I. cris- 
tata, I. longiflora, I. pumila, and its varieties. 

Linum perenne, Linum flavum. 

Lychnis Alpina, L. chalcedonica, and varieties, L. coronata, L. 
Flos-cuculi, L. fulgens. 

Lythrum roseum superbum. 

Mimulus, atrosanguineus, M. auranthiacus superbus, M. pictus, 
M. moschatus. 

Monarda didyma. M. hybrida, M. purpurea, M. Russelliana. 



226 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

(Enothera acaulis, 0. fruticosa, 0. Fraseri. 

Phlox. One of the finest families of Garden Flowers. There are 
many species and sub-species worth cultivation ; especially 
the new sorts, which are of exquisite beauty. 

Penstemon. There are many very choice varieties cultivated ; many 
of them are not hardy : P. ovatus, P. procerus, P. pubescens, 
and others are hardy ; the other varieties have to be set 
under glass in winter. 

Pcconia. Is not surpassed by any other flower for showy effect: 
P. albiflora, P. amabilis grandiflora, P. elegans, P. anemoni- 
flora, P. ligulata, P. prolifera tricolor, P. triumphans, P. 
edulis, P. officinalis. 

Pceonia Moutan. Tree Pseonia. 

Potentilla atrosanguinea, P. decora pleno, P. Demayi, P. Gardner- 
iana, P. Macnabina. 

Primula. Primrose. An endless variety of sub-species have been 
obtained. The Polianthes have been grown from Primula 
elatior. Primula auricula has numerous varieties, generally 
called Auricula. In this country the Auricula can not be 
grown with success, as a hardy perennial, as it can in 
Europe, owing to the great heat of summer. 

Sedum Kamstkaticum, S. purpuratum. 

Silene viscosa, S. alpestris, S. maritima plena. 

Saponaria officinalis fl. pleno. 

Saxifraga cordifolia, S. ligulata, S. granulata, S. sarmentosa. 



CULTURE OF FLOWERS. 227 

Spircea filipendula 11. pleno, S. Japonica, S. ulmaria fl. pleno. 
Statice Ecliinus, S. eximia, S. latifolia, S. Pseudo-Armeria. 
Trollius Europseus, T. Asiaticus. 

Veronica. Speedwell. V. gentianoides, V. dioica, V. saxatilis. 
Valeriana phu,, V. rubra, (Centranthus ruber.) 
Yucca. Adam's needle. Y. flaccida, Y. filamentosa, Y. gloriosa. 

THE BULBOUS PERENNIALS, 

Are of great importance in the formation of a 
Flower-garden. They contain many of the choicest 
species of Flowers, as Hyacinths, Tulips, etc. Accord- 
ing to their culture they may he classed into Two 
families, viz : those taken up every year, and those 
which may remain in the ground for years with- 
out transplanting. 

THE TENDER BULBOUS FLOWERS, 

Are generally taken up every year, and are 
as follows : 

Amaryllis formosissima, Jacobea Lily. Planted in April ; flowers 
end of May ; taken up in fall, and preserved over winter in 
dry sand, in a temperature above freezing. 

Polianthus tuberosa. Tuberose. Highly fragrant; flowers pure 
white. The roots may be started in a hotbed, in early spring, 



228 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

or planted in the garden in April. If started in pots, it mil 
flower sooner and more luxuriantly. 

Tigridia pavonia. Tiger Flower. Several varieties, differing in 
color from yellow to bright crimson. Planted in April ; taken 
up in October. 

Gladiolm. Sword Lily. There are many . varieties cultivated, of 
this beautiful family : Gr. alatus, G. blandus, G. Cardinalis, G-. 
communis, G. floribundus, G. Psittacinus, are some of the choicest 
species. The bulbs are planted in the garden at the end of 
March, and taken up in the fall. 

Lilium. Lily. Nearly all the varieties of this species are hardy, 
and may remain in the ground for years. A few of the choicest 
varieties are to be taken up in the fall, and kept in a warm 
temperature over winter; such are L. eximeum, L. Brownii, 
L. Japonicum, L. longifolium, L. lancifolium, with many sub- 
varieties. 

THE HARDY BULBOUS FLOWERS. 

Are generally taken up every three or four 
years, to be divided and replanted ; the season to 
plant them is fall or early winter. 

. The Crocus, flowers very early in spring ; there are many varieties, 
differing only in color ; they require removal every three or 
four years. They should be planted three inches deep, and, not 
growing very raukly, may be set closely together. 



CULTURE OF FLOWERS. 229 

Tulips. The tulip has long held an important part in Floriculture. 
In times past a tulip rage existed in Europe, and enormous 
sums were paid for a single bulb of a favorite variety. They are 
of great beauty, and have an endless variety of bright tints. 
The flowers are either single or double. The bulbs are planted 
in spaces six inches square by three or four inches deep. 

Hyacinths. A most delightful flower, very fragrant, and displaying 
an endless variety and beauty of coloring. They should be 
planted four or five inches deep, and six or eight inches each 
way. 

Fritiilaria imperialis, Crown Imperial, should be planted five or six 
inches deep, and twelve inches square. 

Narcissus. A profusely growing bulb. 

Jonquilles. Lilium candidum (White Lily) ; L. Tigrinum (Tiger 
Lily), L. Martagon, L. chalcedonicum, are hardy varieties of 
this beautiful family. They should be transplanted every three 
or four years, and set out in trenches or holes four or five 
inches deep by fifteen inches square. 

The soil best adapted for tlie cultivation of 
Bulbs, is a rich, well-manured, sandy loam ; it should 
be carefully and very deeply spaded ; the beds must 
be raised in the middle, to turn the water ; wet 
soil is not suitable for bulbous plants. The bulbs 
should not be taken out of the ground before the 
leaves are fairly dry. " No imbricated or scaly 



230 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

bulb, ought to be retained long out of tbe ground ; 
if once lifted, they should be immediately re- 
planted."* No bulb should be planted with its 
offsets ; these must be taken off, and planted in a 
bed by themselves. 

DAHLIAS. 

A well-known, and highly esteemed genus, whose 
flowers display an endless variety of color, shape 
and size. For a showy flower, the Dahlia is un- 
surpassed ; it is well worthy a place in the flower- 
garden, though the droughts of our summers often 
interfere with its growth. A moist and substan- 
tial, rich soil is best adapted for its cultivation. 
As it grows to the bight of from three to eight 
feet the plants must be supported by sticks strong 
enough to resist the wind. In case of drought, 
it requires to be freely watered. The roots may 
be planted out in the Garden in April ; it is best 
to sprout them in a temperate bed, under glass, 
and plant them out in May. It is easily pro- 
pagated by dividing the roots ; every part planted 

''' Buist's " Flower-Garden Directory." 



CULTURE OF FLOWERS. 231 

must, however, have at least one eye. It is also 
easily propagated by cuttings, started in a hothed ; 
the sprouts are cut off when one or two inches long. 
They must he cut very close to the old stock or 
root. When planted in a moist, well-shaded hot- 
bed, they strike root in a short time. In the 
fall, after the frost has killed the stems and leaves, 
the . root is taken up, and stored away over win- 
ter in a dry and temperate cellar or greenhouse. 

THE ROSE, 

Is SO well known as the choicest of all Flow- 
ers, that it is useless for us to say anything in 
its praise. Owing to high culture and continual 
crossing of different species, thousands of varieties 
and sub-species have been obtained, differing greatly 
in color, shape, and size. 

The various kinds of Eoses may be classed, in 
regard to their manner of growth, as either Stand- 
ards, Bushes, Runners, or Climbing Roses ; they 
may be classed according to their season of flow- 
ering, being either once-blooming, or ever-blooming : 

The once-hloommg varieties are generally called Garden Roses. A 
great many beautiful, yet older varieties are found among 
them, as the CentifoHa Rose, Provenqe (of the French), with 



232 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

us generally called Cabbage-rose; the 3Ioss-rose, with all its 
beautiful varieties ; the different species of White Roses, and 
the different sorts of Yelloiv Roses, as Harrisonii, Persian 
Yellow, Sweet-Brier, and many other highly-esteemed sorts 
are also once-blooming. By crossing many of these sorts 
with the Tea-scented, the Bourbon and the Noisette roses, a class 
of flowers was obtained called Hybrid Garden or Hybrid 
Chinese rose : they are of great value and beauty, A few 
of this family are: George the Fourth (Rivers), Brennus, 
General Lamarque, Roi des Hybrides, Violet de Belgique, etc. 
They are of luxuriant growth and foliage, blooming, how- 
ever, but once a year. 

The Climbing Once-blooming Roses are of great value in garden- 
ing, being very showy, and fast-growing. They comprise 
the family of the French Boursault roses ; the Grevillia or Seven 
Sisters; the 3IultiJlora; the Prairie roses, of which we only men- 
tion the Queen of the prairies, and Baltimore Belle ; and the Banksia 
roses (better adapted to the greenhouse than the garden). 

The Ever-blooming Roses. They can not be called ever-blooming 
in the fullest sense of the word, as many of them only 
bloom in spring and fall, owing to the heat and drought 
of summer. They are the most valuable sorts cultivated. 
They are classed under various sub-families, as: 

The Bengal, or Chinese Ev&r-blomiing Rose, R. semperflorens. They 
are free-blooming all summer and fall, and of great beauty. 
With a protection of straw or leaves, they stand the win- 
ter out of doors. We mention, of their endless number of 
varieties, only a few: 



CULTURE OP FLOWERS. 233 

The Pink Daily, and White Daily, are very free-blooming and 
hardy. 

The Lawrenicana, smallest rose known, Purple Crown, Agrippina, 
Louis Philippe, Roi de Crimoisis, Sanguinea, Fabier, Le Pac- 
tole, Queen of Lombardy, etc., etc. 

The Tea-scented Rose. Rosa odorata Indica. This family numbers 
many varieties of great beauty. The Tea-scented roses are 
not very hardy, and require a good protection of straw or 
leaves, in winter. They flourish best under glass. Some 
of the choicest sorts are, Comte de Paris, Clara Silvain, 
Belle Marguerite, Devoniensis, Eliza Sauvage, Saphrano, Mad- 
ame Jaqueminot, Melville, La Sylphide, Lyonnaise, Triumph 
of Luxemburg, etc. 

Noisette Rose. Rosa Noisettiana. The Noisette roses are strong 
and rapid-growers. Mr. Buist says of them: "The great 
profusion and perpetual succession of flowers, from June till 
November, of immense clusters, frequently fro n fifty to one 
hundred in each, make them truly ornamental objects, and 
are well calculated for covering fences, pillars, or trellis- 
work." Aime Vibert, Bengal Lee, Coeur .Jaune, Cloth of 
Gold, Fellenburg, Lamarque, Solfatare, etc., are some of the 
choicest sorts of this family. 

Bourbon Rose. ( Isle Bourbon. ) Rosa Borbonica. The Bourbon 
roses are of great beauty, and value, they are free-growing 
and free-blooming during summer and fall. The flowers 
are in great clusters; their foliage is large and luxuriant. 
They are perfectly hardy. We mention a few of the choicest 
kinds: Hevmo?a, Marshal de Villars, Bouquet de Flore, Dit 
20 



234 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

petit Thenars, Gloire de Paris, Phoenix, Paul Joseph, Prin- 
cesse Adelaide, Queen of the Bourbons, Souvenir de la Mal- 
maison. 

Perpetuelle or Remontant Rose. Portland Rose, Rosa Bifera. The 
Remontant Roses are justly called the finest of all roses. 
They are perfectly hardy, fast-growing, and abundantly 
blooming. They frequently stop blooming in the hottest 
months of summer. In early summer and fall, they attain 
their hight of beauty. Du Roi, St. Fiacre, De la Reine, 
Comte de Paris, Due d' Aumale, Duchesse de Nemour, Baron 
Brevost, Madame Laffay, Giant des Battailles, Cornet, Mare- 
schal Soult, Prince Albert, and Louis Bonaparte, etc., are 
some of the most desirable varieties. 

The Eose can be raised in almost any kind of 
soil; a deep, and substantial loam is best adapted 
to its growth. The choicest ever-blooming kinds 
should be planted in rich and well-prepared ground. 
The Tea-scented roses, especially, require a well- 
manured and deeply-dug bed. The ground should 
be sufficiently drained, either naturally or artifi- 
cially — a surplus of moisture being destruction to 
the plants, especially in winter. Those kinds re- 
quiring protection in winter, may either be bent 
down to the ground, and thus be covered with 
litter or leaves, or they may be surrounded with 



CULTURE OF FLOWERS. 235 

straw or matting. Fall or spring is tlie most 
favorable season to transplant the hardj kinds. 
To have the Eose bloom in early spring, it is 
advisable to take up some of the youngest and 
healthiest plants in October or November, and to 
transplant them in pots or cases. If they are kept 
under glass, in a uniform temperature above freez- 
ing, they will generally be in bloom in March and 
April. 

The ground where roses are growing, should be 
freely manured ; this is most conveniently done in 
the fall and winter, before spading the ground. 

The Eose generally requires pruning every year; 
being once well established in the ground, they will 
soon become too strong and irregular for the neat 
borders and beds of the Flower-Garden. In prun- 
ing, it is recommended to leave a good supply of 
young wood, which will produce the most flowers. 
It is therefore necessary to take off some of the 
oldest stems, in whose place new and strong shoots 
will appear, promising an abundance of flowers for 
the next year. It is also necessary to shorten the 
largest shoots, according to the hight and space 
the plant is desired to occupy. In this way the 



236 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

plants can be trained to any shape and size de- 
sired. Pruning may be done in winter, and early 
spring. 

The Garden Eoses frequently produce many suck- 
ers, round the main plant; these should be taken 
up and planted by themselves. This is the most 
common way of propagation for the hardy kinds. 
Young shoots may also be bent to the ground, 
and layered, by which they freely strike roots and 
form new plants. Many of the Garden and run- 
ning roses are easily propagated by cuttings, se- 
lected from thrifty, well seasoned shoots, of one 
year's growth, which are set in the ground in 
early winter; it is well to protect the bed where 
the cuttings are to grow, from the severest cold, 
by a covering of litter, or which is better, by a 
frame, covered with boards. 

The Ever-blooming roses are propagated in vari- 
ous ways, of which we shall mention only a few, 
most generally followed by gardeners They may 
be propagated by cuttings, taken from the old 
wood, of one year's growth, and by cuttings of 
the young and tender wood. Cuttings from the 
old wood arp made in fall and earlv winter. Thev 



CULTURE OF FLOWERS. 237 

may be cut to tlie length of from one to three 
inches, having at least one eye. After taking off the 
leaves, the cuttings are set in a bed of sand, or 
sandy earth, in the greenhouse, or in a cold frame, 
not exposed to the frost. The bed. should be 
kept constantly wet, sufficient air being also ad- 
mitted. The cuttings will very soon be sufficiently 
prepared to strike their roots. To make cuttings 
from the young wood, it is necessary to transplant 
some of the old plants in pots, in early fall; these 
plants should be set in a temperate greenhouse, 
where they will develop their new shoots in Feb- 
ruary or March. About this time a hotbed should 
be made, into which fine earth, to the depth of 
four inches, is to be placed. The earth is cov- 
ered witli fine sand, to the depth of two inches, 
and slightly beaten with the hand, to make it 
solid. When the bed has arrived at its greatest 
heat, the young and tender shoots are cut off from 
the old plants, and planted in the sand. They 
require to be freely watered, sufficient air also 
being constantly admitted. The cuttings are sure 
to strike roots in from six to fifteen days. This 
is the liest and most advisable way of propagat- 



238 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

iiig the rose; by proper management, scarcely any 
of tlie cuttings will be lost ; we have propagated 
almost all sorts of roses, except the Moss-rose, in 
the above manner. The young plants are set 
out in the Garden in the beginning of May ; if 
possible on a rainy day. 

Budding is another manner of propagating the 
various kinds of roses. It is the most usual way of 
rearing them in the Gardens of Europe, yet little 
practiced in this country. Budded roses are gen- 
erally short-lived, and but little admired in this 
section, at least with us, in the west ; they are 
scarcely salable in the markets, unless a new and 
rare variety. The Maiden's blush, the Dog Eose, 
(Eosa canina) and the French Eglantine (Eglantier), 
are most suitable for stock to bud on. 



The limits of this volume wdll not allow us to 
say more on the culture of the Eose, as practiced 
to its greatest perfection, by many of our merchant 
gardeners and Florists. We can mention but a few 
of such flowers as properly belong to the Green- 
house, they being only planted out during summer, to 
ornament the Flower-Garden and the Parterre. 



CULTURE OF FLOWERS. 239 

It is to be remembered that this class of flowers 
should not be set out before the warm weather of 
early summer has set in, and the ground should 
be prepared and enriched with rotten manure, pre- 
vious to their removal from the greenhouse. 

Abutilon striatum, A. Venosum. 
Datura (Brukmansia) , bicolor, D. arbuscula. 
Carina indica, C. gigantea, C. rubra. 
Fuschia. Many varieties. 
Gardenia radicans. 

Hdiotropium Peruvianum, Hel. Voltarianum, Hel. Souvenir de 
Liege. 

Hydrangea hortensis. 
Lantana aurantiaca. 

" Sellowii, L. crocea, L. niultiflora, L. nivea. 
Loam volubilis. 
Lobelia erinoides. 

erinus grandiflora, L. compacta alba. 
Nerium oleander fl. pleno. 

J'elargonium (geranium), many varieties of the Scarlet geranium. 
Penstemon, Many varieties. 
Plumbago capensis, P. coerulea. 
Salvia patens. 

" azurea, S. floribunda, S. splendens. 
Steina Mexicana, 



240 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

TropcRolum atrosanguineum, T. Lobbiantim. 

Verbena. An endless variety of colors. 

Veronica speciosa. 

Viburnum Tinus. 

Volkameria Japonica fl. pleno. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

FRUIT-TREES — THE ORCHARD. 

In no department of Husbandry have greater 
improvements been effected within the last ten 
years, than in the raising of Orchard Fruits. 
And thanks to the interest excited in the public 
mind by numerous publications on the subject of 
Fruit-growing, from the pens of different Gentle- 
men, Scientific as well as Practical Experimenters, 
America now boasts, and justly too, of having' 
originated varieties of our most common Fruits, 
as Apples, Pears, Peaches, etc., equaling, and 
surpassing any raised in the older Fruit-growing 
countries of Europe. The able, and justly cele- 
brated work of Mr. Bmvning, on *' The Fruit 
Trees of America,'^ by which their nomencla- 
ture and knowledge were first fairly established, 
21 (241) 



242 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

did very much toward exciting, among Country 
Gentlemen and Farmers, a desire for a liiglier de- 
gree of perfection in Orcliard Fruits; and this has 
been fostered and increased by various publications 
on the subject, and by Periodicals devoted to 
this branch of Agriculture, among the ablest of 
which we will mention, the Horticulturist, published 
by Mr. Barry, at Kochester, N. Y. ; the Ohio 
Cultivator, by Mr. Bateham, Columbus, and the 
late Horticultural Review, by Dr. Warder, at Cin- 
cinnati. 

Fruit-growing forms already, a very important 
and highly remunerative branch of Agriculture, 
and is every year spreading and increasing. In 
the West, particularly, immense quantities of choice 
Fruits are every year raised, and that part of 
the United States bids fair soon to be the great- 
est Fruit-growing country the world has ever seen. 
It is not the object of the writer of this work 
to give lengthy details on this important branch. 
Want of space would forbid it, were it even in 
other respects desirable ; but the number and 
ability of works, already before the public, treating 



FEUIT-TREES — THE ORCHARD. 243 

exclusively on tliis subject, would render such a 
proceeding on our part supererogatory. We shall 
therefore be content with giving in this place, a 
few hints for the ijlacing of Fruit-trees, with 
the view of combining, so far as possible, the 
two ends of Utility, and beauty of Appearance. 

The ground intended for an Orchard, should 
be thoroughly, and deeply broken up, to make 
the soil as mellow as possible — poor soil being 
at the same time well manured and fertilized. 
The situation should be airy, the soil dry. Where 
the ground is marshy, or wet, it can be improved 
by drainage. Inclined situations, high and airy, 
and having a good exposure to the sun, are espe- 
cially preferable for Stone Fruits. The general 
directions, given in another part of the work, for 
Planting Trees, apply to setting out Fruit-trees. 
The holes should be made abundantly large, and 
the trees should be well watered, whenever the 
weather is dry, during the first year after setting 
out. 

The most advantageous mode of setting out 
Orchard Trees, is, doubtless, in straight lines. 



244 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

But to connect the straight lines of an Orchard 
with the highly improved surface, and beautifully 
variegated shaj^es of a Pleasure-ground, without a 
line of demarkation, would not he harmonious or 
congruous. We therefore run a belt of Shrubbery 
between the two, gradually changing, from Forest 
Shrubbery to useful Shrubs, as Peaches, Quinces, 
Kaspberries, Currants, and others; these being in- 
termixed with lower Pruit-trees, and backed by 
higher Pruit-trees ; the entire Plantation forming 
a natural, easy transition from the Beautiful to 
the Useful — from the Pleasure-ground to the 
Orchard. Or, the Orchard may be planted in 
groves, or natural groups, thus substituting Pruit- 
trees for Porest-trees ; thus we form groves of 
Apple, Pear, Cherry, and Peach Trees, interwoven 
with thickets of Quinces, Easpberries, etc. If de- 
sirable, a group of Porest-trees, or ornamental 
Shrubs, might be planted here and there, in the 
midst of such a scene, adding variety to the picture, 
and breaking the stiff, regular top lines of the 
Pruit-trees, which are nearly all of one hight. Such 
scenery will not, of course, have the variety of hue 



FRUIT-TREES — THE ORCHARD. 245 

and higlit and form, whicli is so charming in 
groves of Forest-trees ; but a skillful arrangement 
of tlie different parts will make quite a fine scene. 
Sucli an arrangement of Fruit-trees, as tlie last 
mentioned, has the additional advantage, that it 
does not interfere at all with the growth of the 
trees, leaving them sufficient room and light. 
Where groves of Fruit-trees are planted, they may 
be placed at convenient distances. Where it be- 
comes necessary, for the preservation of harmony, to 
plant the Trees close together (in thickets), we would 
advise to plant Wild Apples and Wild Cherries, 
which will be found to flourish in such situations, 
and whose fruits are useful — the first for Cider, 
the latter to make excellent Preserves. We have 
recommended (by plans), these Ornamental Orchards 
to several gentlemen about to improve their grounds, 
and they have expressed themselves highly gratified 
at the result. 

While upon this subject, we desire to say a 
few words upon the Grape culture. Several va- 
rieties of the Native Grape have, within a few 
years, been found to make most excellent Wine. 



246 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

Wine-culture has already attained a highly important 
stand in the great Valley of the Ohio, and is 
rapidly progressing. As an investment of capital, 
the culture of the Vine, when followed upon 
Scientific Principles, as it must be to succeed at 
all, yields larger returns than almost any other 
Agricultural Product. 



CHAPTER XXVL 

THE F AKM. 

A FEW words on improvement, addressed more 
especially to Farmers, will not be out of place in 
this volume. The great majority of our farmers 
are comparatively wealthy men — that is to say, 
they are not engaged in that struggle for day- 
to-day existence, which is the lot of the chief part 
of our laboring population. Themselves employed 
in the production of the most important of the 
necessaries of life, they may with truth be said to 
be, if not wealthy, still as a class, independent. 
Yet viewed as a class, there are no stricter utili- 
tarians than American farmers. 

The greater portion of our agricultural popu- 
lation pass through life, knowing but little of those 
peaceful rural enjoyments which are placed, almost 
without charge, at their command, and which so 



248 PKACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

mucli tend to calm the spirit, elevate the mind, 
purify the heart, and ennoble the desires and aspi- 
rations of man. How often do we find the owner 
of hundreds of acres living contentedly all his days 
in the midst of a barren " clearing,'' without making, 
in all that time, a well-directed effort to assem- 
ble around his homestead, those homely, rural 
charms — Flowers, Shrubs and Trees — which, with 
little labor, and less cost, would make of his home 
a paradise instead of a desert waste, and the power 
of their associations, of himself and his progeny, 
thinking, feeling, human beings, instead of mere 
producers of certain qualities of corn and pork! 

To disseminate among such, the principles of 
correct taste, and excite in them a love of the 
beautiful, seems to us highly desirable; and if the 
present volume should be, in the slightest degree, 
instrumental in effecting this object, the author's 
fervent wishes would be fulfilled. 

As we have said, in another part of this vol- 
ume, much more is to be done in this country, 
and particularly in the West, in preserving the 
natural beauties of the forest, than in creating 
new and artificial charms. 



THE FARM. 249 

Beauty of scenery, and utility are not so oppo- 
site that tlie two can not be united on a farm. 
How many corners and nooks are there about a 
farm-yard, which, now left year after year to bar- 
renness, might, with a very little labor in winter, 
be stocked with young Maples, Elms, and other 
forest trees, which would make shade for man and 
beast, and add infinitely to the beauty of the scene! 
How often do we see the picturesque bank of a 
creek stripped of all its beauty by cutting down 
the overhanging trees ; or the noblest forest trees 
destroyed to make a " clearing," in the midst of 
which to set a house, and their place supplied by 
some ragged Locusts, whose innumerable sprouts 
break up the ground all round, and render it 
impossible to make even a respectable-looking lawn? 

There is no good reason why the farmer's resi- 
dence should not look as neat, and clean, and sim- 
ply beautiful, as the country gentleman's ! Instead 
of ash-heaps, chips, etc., scattered round the house, 
we would see a smooth and beautiful Lawn trav- 
ersed by regular walks. His dwelling and the out- 
houses should be shaded by forest trees, propor- 
tioned to the buildings. His spring or well, instead 



250 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

of standing naked and exposed to tlie burning sun, 
as is but too often the case, might be surrounded 
by a little grove. His doors and windows should 
be festooned with Running Roses and Grape-vines, 
while other hardy flowers are disposed in beds, in 
front. His springhouse might be shaded b^ Creep- 
ing plants ; his smokehouse overrun with Ivy or 
Honeysuckle ; and the whole would, with a little 
trouble, and at a very small outlay, be turned 
into a charming country scene, attracting the eye 
of even the most tasteless by its simple beauty, 
and affording a constant pleasure to the inmates. 
This might be done, we say. We are glad to say 
that many just such scenes are to be found through 
the country, but as yet these are so small, in 
point of numbers, as to form the exception, rather 
than the rule. With but too large a class of 
our farmers, the asJi-heap is yet a permanent insti- 
tution, trees (except Locusts) are considered nui- 
sances, which it is a meritorious act, under all 
circumstances, to abate, and flowers and shrubs are 
unthought of. 

But we desire to go beyond the mere orna- 
mentation of the grounds more immediately sur- 



THE FARM. 



251 



Fig. U. 
GROUND-PLAN OF AN ORNAMENTAL FARM, DEVOTED TO CATTLE- 
GRAZING AND TILLAGE. 



The House is 
surrounded by a 
Pleasureground, 
ornamented by- 
Shrubbery and 
Flowers. The 
Pleasure-ground 
is divided from 
the Park by a 
Wire Fence, to 
keep the cattle 
off. Tlie various 
groves of Forest 
trees in thePark, 
will add much 
to the beauty of 
the place. The 
shores of the 
Lake should be 
planted, in some 
places.with close 
groups, which 
should be made 
to deceive the 
eye as to extent. 
The Farm-build- 
ings are placed 
in the middle of 
the grounds, svu'- 
rounded by a 
grove of Forest- 
trees. Behind 
the buildings ya- 
rious subdivis- 
ions are made 
where cattle are 
fed. 




A, Front Lawn. Pleasure-ground. 

B, Park. Undivided range of Pas- 

ture, and groves of Trees. 

C, Tilled Fields. 

D, Kitchen Garden. 



E, Lake. 

F, Residence. 

G, Stable. 

H. Farm-house and Fann-buildings. 



THE FARM. 253 

rounding tlie house. We wish to see all parts 
of the farm beautified, when it can be done with- 
out injury to profit, naturally the first consideration. 
And no portion of the farm is more benefited, as 
well as beautified by the improving hand of the 
gardener, than the cattle-pastures. The cattle-grazer, 
with his vast domain "his broad acres of Blue- 
grass," to use a Kentucky phrase, dotted with cattle 
and sheep, occupies the place among us, held in 
England by the nobleman, as the owner of parks 
stocked there with deer and game. Stock-raising 
is becoming the most extensive and remunerating 
part of farming, in the West. It needs large 
tracts of land, and when stocked with groves of 
forest trees, either of natural growtli, or placed 
there by the proprietor, these tracts form the Amer- 
ican Parks. Much of the woodland now left unem- 
ployed on large farms, might, by a judicious use 
of the ax, in thinning the heavier wood, and erad- 
icating underbrush, giving room to Bluegrass, be 
made the best of pastures for catttle, thus adding 
wealth to the farmer's store, wliile beautifying the 
country. 



254 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

Our farmers should read more. Eead to form 
a taste for the beautiful, wherever it may come to 
light, and then read, to learn how to satisfy that 
taste; — read to learn how they may combine util- 
ity and beauty — how they may benefit themselves, 
while beautifying the country — how they may cul- 
tivate in themselves and their children, a taste for 
the refined and elegant in nature and art — which, 
and which alone will elevate the farmer to his 
proper place in the social ranks. 



CHAPTER XXVIL 

PUBLIC SQUARES AND PARKS. 

Nearly every city, town, and village, in this 
country, lias surrounding its public buildings, a 
Square, of greater or less area. This Square is 
generally left barren, and intersected by random 
paths and walks, or it is put in grass. In neither 
case does it present as beautiful an appearance as 
it might be made to assume, if laid out in the 
Geometric style. This would be in keeping, too, 
with its position, surrounded as it is on all sides 
by houses. If intersected by walks, flower-beds 
would add a grace and charm to the busy scene 
of the town's center. 

The grounds surrounding a building of large 
dimensions, and of more importance, as a State- 
House, should be laid out strictly in harmony with 

the style of the building, either plain, or highly 

( 2.-,.-. ) 



256 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

ornamental. A principal requisite about such places 
is, that they be kept clean and neat, the grass 
short, and all in perfect order. 

Our large cities are lamentably deficient in 
Parks, those " lungs of cities," as they have been 
appropriately styled. In some, however, the evil is 
being remedied, and we are glad to see public 
attention looking that way in every large city 
through the land. The public Park is a delight- 
ful place of recreation for all classes of citizens, 
from the poorest to the richest. At the close of 
the labors of a day or week, the artisan or trades- 
man repairs here to enjoy a breath of free, pure, 
unadulterated air — to imbibe the fragrance of beau- 
tiful flowers, and refresh his toil-worn senses with 
a glance at the bright colors of Nature, and the 
gay carols of her feathered songsters. 

The scenery of a public Park, should be com- 
posed of grand and impressive masses and groups, 
and pleasant groves of forest trees, smiling lawns, 
occasional groups of flowers, and beautiful shrub- 
bery, the whole intersected and variegated by 
broad and smooth walks and roads. Natural scenes 
should be imitated as closely as possible, as the 



PUBLIC SQUARES AND PARKS. 257 

more natural and unrestrained the appearance of 
the scene, the greater the pleasure it will give to 
those who have come forth from the restraints of 
the city to enjoy it. 

It is much to be hoped that, before it is too 
late, every American city will provide for a public 
Park, and in the laying out of future cities in 
the far West, this subject should be taken into 
consideration from the first. 



22 



CHAPTER XXVIIl. 

THE CEMETERY. 

Among all civilized nations, from the earliest ages 
to the present clay, the Burial-place of the dead 
has received much care and attention from the 
living. The amount of care and pains bestowed 
upon the decorations of the graves of deceased 
friends and great men, in ancient times, was very 
great, and was always in precise ratio to the 
degree of civilization enjoyed by the living. It is 
a great, though melancholy pleasure, to muse over 
the resting-place of the loved one lost, to pay those 
attentions to their graves which are dictated by 
the highest and purest feelings of affection and 
love, of which the human heart is capable. 

In many countries of Europe, and particularly in 
France, much attention is paid to the tasteful lay- 
ing-out and decorating of Burial-grounds. But from 
(258) 



260 



PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



Fig. 15. 




A, Main Entrance Portal. 

B, Receiving-vault. 

C, Public Monuments. 



D. Main Carriage-way. 

E. Exit Carriage-road. 



The scene around the Entrance Portal and the Main Receiving-vault, is 
Bet apart for Ornamental Improvement only, no graves being admitted there. 
The front Lawn is ornamented with groups of fine Flowering Shrubbery 



THE CEMETERY. 

Fiff. 15. 



261 




and Flowers; around the Main Vault, the scene should be solemn and 
earnest ; many Everi^reen-trees are planted around. The junctions- of the 
Carriage-roads are planted with solid masses of Trees and Shrubbery. 
The graves aie made on the open lawns, each grave and monument re- 
ceiving its own embellishment with Evergreens and Shrubbery. 



THE CEMETERY. 263 

present indications of the American taste, this coun- 
try will soon, if she does not already, excel all 
others, in the beauty of her Cemeteries. And, in 
the absence of public parks, such as we find in 
the great cities of Europe, our Cemeteries, aside 
from their appropriateness, as beautiful resting-places 
for tliose we have loved on earth, are calculated to, 
and do already, exercise a powerful influence upon the 
public taste for rural improvement. Laid out in 
accordance with the most approved rules of the Art 
of Landscape Gardening, as most of them are, and 
all should be, and chastely and tastefully decorated, 
they are the schools in which the eyes of our peo- 
ple will be trained to perceive the truly beautiful, 
and their minds to appreciate it, and to distinguish 
between it and a false and unnatural taste. 

We design giving a few remarks upon the situa- 
tion and planning-out of Cemeteries, and the style 
of ornamentation proper to be adopted in them, 
hoping that such may prove both interesting and 
useful. And, first, the situation should be one 
commanding fine prospects, either seaward, if situ- 
ated upon the searcoast, or extending over a wide 



264 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

and pleasant range of country, if inland. It should 
be of convenient access from the city, and should 
contain, naturally, within itself, the elenlents out 
of which may he formed a fine Landscape. Mt. 
Auburn, near Boston, and Greenwood, near New 
York, are specimens of finely chosen situations for 
Cemeteries. That near Frankfort, Ky., is also placed 
in a highly picturesque spot. 

In the first laying out of the place, the entire 
plan should be formed and firmly settled upon by 
men of experience, correct taste, and sound judg- 
ment. The surveyor is then empowered to make 
his subdivisions into grave-lots, in accordance with 
this 'plan. Where the surveyor is allowed to divide 
and subdivide, as he sees fit, unless he is also a 
Landscape Gardener, which is not always the case, 
he will inevitably spoil many beautiful scenes, and 
render the whole grounds a simple patchwork. 

A substantial fence, or better yet, a hedge, 
must surround the entire grounds. The style of 
the principal buildings, as the Keeper's Lodge, the 
Entrance Portal, the Eeceiving-vaults, etc., should be 
strictly in accordance with the character of the 



THE CEMETERY. 265 

place. Liglit, fantastic shapes, or fanciful designs, 
are, of course, ^tirely out of place. The scenery 
about the principal or receiving-vaults, in particu- 
lar, should be earnest and solemnly impressive. 
The different carriage-roads should meet near these 
vaults. The entire grounds must be intersected in 
various directions by carriage-roads. Grass-walks, 
or sweeping gravel-walks should lead from these 
to each individual grave-lot, giving free, unre- 
strained access to all. In the general plan, the 
best and most level parts of the grounds are, of 
course, reserved for grave-lots, the lower and broken 
parts giving a spot for plantation. Here powerful 
masses of trees should be formed into shady groves, 
adding variety and beauty to the scene, and bring- 
into bolder relief the smooth lawns devoted to graves. 
Plantation should be carefully and skillfully arranged, 
with a view to the prospects attainable, both to 
within and without, from different points on the 
grounds. Conspicuous objects in the scenery, should 
receive additional effect from the manner in which 
they are brought to the eye. Interest should be 
maintained by partial disclosures, in the vieivs tuithin, 
23 



266 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

too many fine monuments, or other objects not being 
allowed to appear to the sight at once. The entire 
arrangement of the plantation having been previ- 
ously fixed upon, lot-holders should be forced to 
pay regard to the rules of the grounds, and not 
arbitrarily spoil, by their lack of taste, the appear- 
ance of the whole grounds. The graves should not 
be allowed to be surrounded with high, conspicuous 
railings or fences, iron or otherwise, as such are 
entirely out of keeping with natural scenery. If 
especially designed to have a fence, (which, how- 
ever, is not at all necessary) it should be a low, 
unobtrusive railing, of a chaste design. An able 
and tasteful Superintendent should have charge of 
the grounds, and it should be his duty to see that 
private fancy or caprice does not, in any place, 
interfere with the harmonious beauty of the entire 
landscape. He should be able to furnish to such 
as desired it, plans for tasteful decorations of 
graves. It should be the aim to divest grounds 
of this character entirely of the forlorn appear- 
ance, common to Graveyards and Cemeteries, and 
to form as natural and variegated a scene as is 



THE CEMETERY. 267 

possible, to unite with the solemnity necessary for 
such a place. 

The ideas detailed above, are applicable, not 
only to the magnificent and expensive Cemeteries 
attached to larger cities, but also to the more 
confined village Burying-Ground, which, by a taste- 
ful arrangement of a few flowers, shrubs and 
trees, may be made a most beautiful place. 



THE VEGETABLE-GAKDEK 



EEMAKKS. 

The Vegetable-Garden is generally laid out in 
regular forms, as squares or oMongs ; and straight 
walks are required to divide its different parts 
from one another. Every square may again be 
subdivided into beds of from four to five feet in 
breadth, or it may be used for the cultivation of 
but one kind of Vegetable. The outside of the 
square is frequently formed into a border, in which 
the smaller fruit-trees, as dwarf Apples, Pears, etc., 
are planted at regular distances. Between such 
fruit-trees Vegetables may be raised, or flowers may 
be planted to ornament the Garden. 

In Gardens of great extent there should be one 

main road, wide enough to admit a cart or wagon, 

(268) 



THE VEGETABLE-GARDEN. 269 

as there is constantly need of fresh manure. In 
smaller patches, sufficient manure is easily brought 
on wheelbarrows. 

In dividing the different parts of a Kitchen- 
garden, care must be taken to allow each kind of 
vegetable sufficient room to grow, so that it may 
arrive at full perfection. 

For the operations of planting, hoeing, and clean- 
ing, free access must be had to the different squares 
or beds, without being obliged to cross one bed 
to get to the next. The various kinds of Vege- 
tables should not be planted as accident may place 
them ; they generally vary in regard to the season 
when used, as well as in the time required to 
bring them to perfection, and strict regard must 
be paid to these considerations, when laying out 
and planting. Thus, the earliest kinds, as Radishes, 
and Lettuce, and Peas, Beans, Early Cabbage, etc., 
for midsummer, should go together, while Carrots, 
Parsnips, etc., for winter use, should form another 
department. It is only by thus systematically divid- 
ing the ground, that an orderly management of 
the whole can be kept up. 



270 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

ASPECT. 

One of tlie first requisites of a suitable Kitclien- 
garden, is, that it should bring forth its crops as 
early as possible, especially in spring, when new 
and tender Vegetables are in greater requisition 
than at other seasons. The garden is, therefore, 
to be placed in a warm situation, facing the south 
or southeast. Southwest is not so favorable as 
southeast, yet highly preferable to a northern aspect. 
Ground slightly inclining toward the south and east 
is undoubtedly the most suitable, as the sun's rays 
naturally strike such ground more directly than if 
perfectly flat. 

The ground intended for a Vegetable-garden, 
must be so situated as to receive the greatest 
possible benefit from the enlivening, life-giving rays 
of the sun. There should be no shade-trees in 
its neighborhood, sufficiently near to affect the Gar- 
den. The situation must be airy, yet not exposed 
to north and northwest winds. Such an exposure 
will retard, and oftentimes destroy, the growth of 
all the vegetables. A northern and western ex- 
posure may be guarded against by tight fences, 



THE VEGETABLE-GAEDEN. 271 

or thick plantations of shrubbery along those sides 
of the Garden. 



SHAPE OF THE GROUND. 

It was remarked above, that an easy inclina- 
tion of the surface toward the south is to be pre- 
ferred for a Vegetable-garden. If the ground is 
too steep, and thus likely to be washed away by 
heavy rains, it becomes necessary to improve it, by 
forming it into terraces, either with stone walls or 
grass-banks. The beds, or squares, on such ter- 
races, are choice spots whereon to raise the earliest 
Vegetables ; they are preferable to all level situa- 
tions. If the ground is nearly level, yet broken 
by small eminences, it is only necessary to bring 
it to such a level as will conveniently admit till- 
age. 

Where a Vegetable-garden is laid out accord- 
ing to the Geometrical style, in squares, circles, 
borders and beds, the ground, if not terraced up, 
should be made as nearly level as possible — the 
Geometrical style, wherever introduced, requires level 
ground. 



272 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENINa. 

THE SOIL, 

Must be dry, loose and rich. Sandy soil is 
generally preferable for the growth of early vege- 
tables, but being rather light and loose, it is not 
calculated to resist the effects of drought and sum- 
mer heat, as well as soils of a heavier and more 
substantial nature. A rich loam is undoubtedly 
the best for a Vegetable-garden. It forms the 
just medium between light and sandy soil, and 
stiff, heavy clay soil. It brings forth Vegetables 
at a very early period in spring, and will also 
resist the effects of drought. 

Clay soil is, in most cases, too stiff and heavy; 
it is extremely hard to work, and is apt to bake 
hard on the surface, after every rain, in sum- 
mer. It has also a disagreeable subsoil, making 
it wet and unfit to work at an early day in spring. 
Clay is the most troublesome of all soils for vege- 
table-gardening. To make it suitable for a Gar- 
den, it must be thoroughly drained, and highly 
manured, in order to change, if possible, its nature, 
that it may become gradually loose and rich. Some 
clay soils Avill never make ground fit for a Kitchen- 



THE VEGETABLE-GARDEN. . 273 

garden, and sucli places should be carefully avoided, 
wlien selecting a garden-spot. Where no other soil 
is to bo got, it will be found necessary to take 
the original ground out of the beds, to the depth 
of one or two feet, and replace it with better soil. 



MANURE. 

Whatever be the quality of the soil, it can not 
be expected to yield Vegetables for a succession of 
years, without being frequently manured, to renew its 
strength. Eich, sandy loam, requires less manure 
than the poorer clay soil. The gardener should 
never be afraid of making his ground too rich ; 
he may put on it, perhaps, too much manure at one 
time, yet he can not give too much strength to 
his ground. The manure, when it is put on the 
land, should be well rotted, especially in spring, 
when the operation of planting or sowing follows 
immediately after manuring and tilling. In fall 
or early winter, almost any kind of manure will 
do, as it will rot during winter, when under ground. 
To manure the land in fall, after the crops are 
taken off, and to work the manure under by a deep 



274 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

tillage, is undoubtedly tlie best plan to prepare tbe 
ground for raising Vegetables. Cow manure is con- 
sidered tbe ricbest, yet well-rotted borse manure, 
wben applied in sufficient quantity, will answer as 
well. It is a good plan to set up piles of manure 
and eartb, in alternate layers of nine to twelve 
incbes deep, eacb, working tbese over after laying 
for tbree or four montbs, and taking pains to 
tborougbly mix tbe ground and manure. Let tbem 
tben remain for a space of time again, and tbe 
wbole heap will be found a most excellent fer- 
tilizer. Siicb piles of compost sbould be found 
in every Kitcben-garden. 



TILLAGE. 

It is necessary to work tbe ground of tbe Kitcben- 
garden witb mucb precaution and care ; tbe suc- 
cess of tbe crops depends, in great measure, on 
proper tillage in spring. Tbe ground sbould on 
no account wbatever, be toucbed in spring, before 
it is sufficiently dry to be worked witb advantage. 
Sandy and loamy soils arrive at tbis state mucb 
earlier tban clay soil, wbicb generally can not be 



THE VEGETABLE-GARDEN. 275 

worked under a fortnight later. If clay soil is 
worked wet, in spring, it may be considered spoiled, 
often being almost useless for the whole season. 
The ground, when taken up with the spade, should 
break and divide freely, and while it has any ten- 
dency to stiffness, it is not fit to be worked. 

Gardens of smaller extent are best tilled with 
the spade ; the ground must receive a deep and 
careful spading, and must be made sufficiently fine 
on the surface, with the rake, to receive either 
seed or plants. Larger gardens, affording suffi- 
cient room for operation with the plow and har- 
row, are cheapest worked in this way. In plow- 
ing ground for the Vegetable-garden, it is impor- 
tant, to run the furrows as narrow as possible, to 
make the ground finer. In heavier soils, where 
the ground breaks in large lumps, it is necessary 
to run the plow twice, and even three times, till 
the earth is made fine enough for garden purposes. 
The harrow must then pulverize the lumps and 
clods. After harrowing, a heavy plank, four feet 
in length and two or three feet broad, should be 
used. The horses are hitched to this, and, the 
driver standing on the plank, it is carried over 



276 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

the field, leveling all inequalities, and completely 
pulverizing the soil wherever it goes over it. Where 
the process of plowing, harrowing, and afterward 
smoothing, as above described, is carefully performed, 
the ground will be found in every respect suited 
to the wants of the gardener, and at much less 
cost than if it had been worked with spade and rake. 
A common field or pasture, when about to be 
turned into a Vegetable-garden, should be dug 
with a spade, two spades deep; or, where the plow 
is used, a heavy subsoil j)low must follow the com- 
mon plow, to deepen the furrows and break up the 
lower stratum of Soil. Deep plowing and spading 
are much opposed by some practical men, but there 
is nothing more certain than the fact, that they 
form the most important item in the cultivation 
of ground, for purposes either of agriculture or 
horticulture. 



WEEDING AND CLEANING. 

No Vegetable-garden can be expected to be 
successful, if the plants, while young and tender, 
are left to shift for themselves. They must, by 



THE VEGETABLE-GAEDEN. 277 

all means, be kept entirely clear of weeds, and 
the ground around them should be frequently well 
stirred and loosened round the roots, during the 
time they are growing. Only a few fast-growing 
species of Vegetables, as Eadishes, Turnips and 
Wintergreens, are sown broad-cast. All the more 
important kinds must be sown or planted in rows 
or drills, that they may be more easily tended. 
In eradicating weeds from the soil, it is worth 
while to remember, that much wearisome labor will 
be saved if weeds are carefully destroyed when they 
first appear above ground. If neglected at that 
time, and allowed to shoot up with the Vegetables, 
they will not only take from the latter a portion 
of the juice which should properly go to nourish 
them, but it will be found a matter involving much 
labor to destroy them afterward, without injury to 
the crops. It should be made a rule, that on the 
first appearance of weeds, the entire Garden should 
be gone over thoroughly to destroy them; and this 
Avill be found the cheapest, in the end, even where 
a large force has to be engaged for the purpose. 
It is certain that this is the only way in which a 
satisfactory crop can be obtained. 



278 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

The ground between the rows should be deeply 
and thoroughly hoed after the weeds are destroyed, 
thus giving the young plants a chance to spread 
their roots, and rapidly gain strength. If these 
directions concerning hoeing and weeding are strictly 
followed up, there will be but little after trouble 
about weeds, or loosening the ground. If, on the 
contrary, through unwise haste, the work is done 
but imperfectly at first, all future operations will 
involve much more labor, and after all, the crops 
will be retarded, and yield returns not at all equal 
to those of ground carefully tended from the be- 
ginning. 

In small Gardens, for family use, hoeing and 
cleaning is done by hand. On more extensive 
tracts, the Hoe-lia7Tow or Cultivator is used. The 
best pattern of Cultivators now made, is manufac- 
tured in Louisville, Ky., by the inventor, Mr^ 
Briscoe. His machines are by far the best ever 
oflPered for sale in the West. 

It is of the utmost importance in Kitchen-Gard- 
ening, to use none but the very best of seed. But 
unfortunately, it is a matter of much difiiculty, 
sometimes, to obtain seed in such perfection as is 



THE VEGETABLE-GARDEN. 279 

to be wished. The seed sold in seedstores is not 
always found to be what it is sold for, and in 
fact no man can be sure of what he purchases 
in this line, unless he deals with a man, either 
grower or seller, of known probity. The estab- 
lishment of David Landreth & Co., Philadelphia, is 
one of the best known and most trustworthy in the 
country, and seeds obtained there, are perfectly 
reliable. 

The cheapest, and by long odds the surest way of 
obtaining seed, is to raise it on the grounds, or by 
the persons intending to use it. Of the method of 
doing this, in various plants, we shall speak far- 
ther on. 

Most of the ordinary vegetables must be sown 
or planted every year. A few, however, if once well 
established in the ground, will last for years. The 
most important of these are Asparagus, Ehubarb 
and Artichokes. 



ASPARAGUS. 
Asparagus is a quite well known and highly 
esteemed Vegetable. It varies much in strength of 
growth, according to the soil in which it is grown. 



280 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

Substantial, loamy soil is the best adapted for it. 
It can not he too richly manured. To raise a bed 
of Asparagus, the seed should be sown thinly, in 
drills, after being soaked for a few days in water. 
If the young plants are afterward kept clear of 
weeds, and the ground well hoed about them, they 
will obtain sufficient strength during the first year 
to bear setting out, the second spring, into the 
beds in which they are to remain. Plants of one 
or two years old are, however, generally to be 
found for sale in the seedstores; and in raising 
Asparagus for table use, it is best to purchase of 
these, thus saving a year's growth and attention, 
which would otherwise be lost. The patch or bed 
into which Asparagus is to be transplanted, should 
be prepared with great care. The most . conveni- 
ent size for beds is, from four to five feet wide, 
and as long as desired. In these beds, the ground 
should be very deeply dug (trenched), and profusely 
manured. To throw rotten wood and decayed vege- 
table matter of any kind as a bottom layer, into 
the bed, will be found useful. In short, the richer, 
deeper and mellower the ground is made, the more 
luxuriant and tender will the Asparagus be. The 



THE VEGETABLE-GARDEN. 281 

plants should not be set out until just as they 
begin to push or give evidence of returning life, 
in spring. This should be carefully attended to, 
in order to make them uniform in coming up. They 
are set four or five inches deep in the ground, in 
rows twelve inches apart both ways. The beds must 
be filled every winter anew, with manure and earth, 
that the roots may be always six inches below the 
surface. In the spring, the beds shoukl be well 
dug with a fork, not with a spade. A layer of 
salt applied to the surface of the beds, in spring, 
is highly beneficial to the plants. 



RHUBAKB, OR PIE-PLANT. 

The foot-stalk of the leaf of Rhubarb, or Pie- 
plant, is used in the kitchen, and is highly esteemed 
as an esculent. There are several varieties, which 
bear different names in various places. A small 
variety, with purple tinted foot-stalks, is the earliest 
in spring. The Victoria, a variety lately intro- 
duced, is the largest and most esteemed of all. 
The root of the Rhubarb may be divided into as 
many different parts as there are eyes, each of 
which will £^Tow, if planted out. When it is desired 

94- 



282 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENINa. 

to raise tliem from seed, this should be sown in 
good ground in the garden, or better yet, early in 
the spring, in hotbeds. They may then be trans- 
planted or set out during the summer. Beds for 
Ehubarb may be placed in any part of the Gar- 
den, where the soil is not so wet as to rot the roots 
in winter. The beds should be well manured, when 
first used, and afterward every winter. The richer 
the ground is made, the finer will be the plants. 



ARTICHOKE. 

The Artichoke is a vegetable but little sought for 
or even known in this country. It is not quite hardy 
with us, and requires to be well protected from 
the frosts and moisture of winter, which are apt 
to destroy the plants. The part mostly used, is 
the pulpy receptacle in the flower-heads, termed the 
bottom, which must be freed from the pistils or 
seed-down. 



ANNUAL VEGETABLES, 

Or those which may be sown every spring, we 
have arranged below, in regard to their uses, in 
three classes. First, those of which the fruits are 



THE VEGETABLE-GARDEN. 283 

used; Second, those of which the leaves and stems 
are used ; and third, those of which the roots are 
used. 

Under the first division come Peas, Beans, Mel- 
ons, Cucumbers, Squashes, Tomato, Okra, Egg-plant, 
Pepper and Sugar-Corn. 

In the second division we have Cabbage, Cau- 
liflower, Winter-greens (Kale, Spinach and Turnip- 
greens), Sorrel, Parsley, Celery, Lettuce, Chervil, 
Endive and Cresses. 

The third division comprises the Eadish, Beet, 
Parsnip, Turnip, Salsify, Carrot, Onion and common 
and Sweet Potatoe. 



BEANS. 

Of these there are two distinct varieties ; the 
Dwarf or ^wsA-Beans, and the Running or Pole 
Beans. The best varieties of Bush-Beans are the 
Early Six -Weeks Bean — the earliest variety known ; 
the Speckled Valentine Bean, tbe most productive; 
and the China -Red-Eye, a very good variety. 

It is not well to plant Beans too early in 
spring, as they are tender when young, and liable 
to be killed by frost. In i^lanting, they are 



284 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

dropped in drills, two or three Beans togetlier, 
and ten or twelve inches apart. The drills should 
be twenty-four inches apart. The seed is covered 
with ground to the depth of an inch. When they 
come up, it is generally necessary to thin them 
out, in order to give those that are left, more 
room to grow. The space allotted to them in the 
Garden should not all he planted at the same 
time, but at intervals of a week, or two weeks, 
whereby there will be provided a constant succes- 
sion of green Beans. The Snap-Bean (Valentine), 
may be planted at different times during the sum- 
mer, as it stands the heat better than any other 
kind. The soil, for Beans, should be well manured, 
in order to bring them to perfection in the least 
possible time. 

Pole Beans are used either shelled, as the Lima 
Bean, or green, as the White Dutch, the Wren's- 
Egg Bean, and other varieties. The Lima Bean is 
planted in hills, five feet apart, each way. It is 
a rapid, strong grower, and requires strong poles. 
The soil should not be too rich, as, if so, it has 
a tendency to run to vines instead of pods. The 
other varieties of pole Beans, used green, may 



THE VEGETABLE-GARDEN. 285 

be planted in liills, tliree feet apart eacli way. 
They are not of so strong growth as the Lima 
Beans ; are often planted with corn, and when 
raised alone, do not need such stout poles as the 
Lima Bean. 



PEAS. 

There is an endless variety of this family. The 
earliest, and those producing the largest seeds, are 
the most esteemed. The LandretJi's Extra Early, 
is known everywhere to be the earliest of all 
Peas. Early Frarties are from eight to ten days 
later than the Extra Early. For a later supply 
than these afford, it is best to plant the very 
largest varieties, called the Marroiofat These are 
either dwarf or higher growing. The Blue Im'pe- 
rial Dwarf is an extremely sweet variety. 

Peas are sown in rows, which are laid off, two 
together, and three feet apart. Tlie peas are sown 
tolerably thick in the drills, and should be covered 
Avith well-rotted manure, finely pulverized, to pro- 
tect them from severe frost. They are supported 
by brush, firmly sunk in the ground, along the 
rows Thoy may be sown as early in spring as 



286 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

the ground can be worked, as tliej are hardy when 
once out of the ground. When hoeing them, it 
is best to hill the ground along the roots and 
stems. The early and late varieties are sown at 
the same time, and form a natural succession. The 
Early Frame may be sown at different intervals, 
in smaller quantities, to have a continuous succes- 
sion. The ground for the early varieties should 
be rich; the Marrowfat peas being strong growers, 
do not bear well if planted in too rich soil. 



K R A, 

Is a vegetable highly esteemed by many per- 
sons, as an ingredient in soups and stews. The 
seed is planted in drills, the plants ten or twelve 
inches apart in the row. The drills should be 
two or three feet apart. The beginning of May 
is the best time to sow the seed, which should be 
put thickly in the ground, as only part of it is 
likely to come up. It requires, like all other 
vegetables, careful tending, while growing. The 
soil can not be made too rich for it. 



THE VEGETABLE-GARDEN. 287 



TOMATO. 



This is one of the most highly-esteemed Vege- 
tables to be found in the American Kitchen-garden. 
There are several varieties: The Large Red, bear- 
ing the finest fruit, the Large Yellow, and the 
small Pear or Cherry-shaped variety. It grows 
without difficulty in almost any soil. For an early 
supply, as soon as warm weather has set in (about 
the first of May, in an average season), the plants 
may be set out in the open air, from hotbeds, 
where they may be raised to great size. They 
are transplanted without difficulty, and should be 
five or six feet apart each way. A warm, shel- 
tered spot, should be picked out for early Tomatoes. 
For a late supply, seed is sown in the beginning 
of May, and the plants are afterward set out in 
beds. The Tomato bears best in rather poor soil; 
in rich ground it is apt to run to vines. The 
vines are commonly allowed to run along the sur- 
face of the ground, although some gardeners think 
best to train them on brushwood — either way will 
do well. 



288 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

EGG-PLANT. 

With many this vegetable is a great favorite. 
It is no rarity in our markets. The seed should 
be sown in a hotbed, and started there to the 
hight of ten or twelve inches. The plants, when 
young, require considerable heat to bring them on. 
They should not therefore be planted out before 
the middle or end of May. They will only come 
to perfection in the very richest ground. Planted 
out, they should stand in rows two feet apart each 
way. 

PEPPERS. 

These are principally used for pickling. The 
different varieties bear fruits varying in size. The 
Large Sweet is the most highly thought of. There 
is another species much resembling this, but of 
inferior quality, called the BuUnose Pepper. The 
variety bearing long pods is called the Cayenne. 
The plants should be started from the seeds, in a 
hotbed, and planted out in the garden in the 
beginning of May. The seed may also be sown, in 
a warm border, in the open air, late in spring, and 



THE VEGETABLE-GARDEN. 289 

when they sprout, the plants are thinned out to 
the proper quantity. Peppers require a rich soil 
to attain perfection. 



MELONS. 



The Cit7vn and Nutmeg^ are the two favorite 
varieties of the Sugar or liluskmelon ; the Caro- 
lina and 3Ioimtain Sprout, the two choicest kinds 
of Watermelons. In planting, the seeds are laid 
in hills, from six to twelve in a hill, these heing 
laid off in squares of four feet. When the plants 
have got fairly started, they should be thinned out 
to four in each hill. The beginning of May is 
the time to plant Melons. The roots of this plant 
run near the surface, and it is therefore an advan- 
tage to surround the stems with fine o-round, that 
the roots may have an opportunity to spread. Care 
must be taken, in hoeing, that none of the roots 
are cut or destroyed. Early plants may be started 
in a hotbed, where the seed may be planted in 
small flower-pots, or on little pieces of sod, and 
set out in the garden, in a warm place, about the 

middle of May. The Melon tribe requires a well- 
25 



290 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

manured, rich, but light soil — sandy loam is pecu- 
liarly suitable to them. 



CUCUMBER. 



There is but one kind worth growing, the Lmig 
Green. The Early Frame may be some little earlier 
than the Long Green, yet the fruit is not near so 
large. The mode of raising the Cucumber is similar 
to that stated for Melons. It is to be remarked, 
that in many parts of the country the young plants 
of Cucumbers, Muskmelons, and Squashes, are fre- 
quently destroyed by swarms of small yellow bugs, 
called by gardeners the Cucumber Bug. Where 
these bugs prevail, the only way to save the plants 
from destruction, is to set a box, made of rough 
boards, twelve inches square, over every hill, before 
the seed has sprouted. A piece of fine musquito- 
bar muslin is lightly nailed over the box ; the 
four sides of the box are then well surrounded 
with fine earth. Thus the plants are protected, 
till strong enough to resist the enemy. For pick- 
ling. Cucumbers are planted in the middle of 
summer. 



THE VEaETABLE-GARDEN. 291 

SQUASH. 

The best variety of the Squash is the Early 
Bush. Its culture is similar to that of the cucum- 
ber. The Squash and Pumpkin should be at a 
distance from the Muskmelon beds, as they are 
apt to deteriorate the choicer sorts of melons. 



THE PUMPKIN. 



The culture of the Pumpkin is extremely simple. 
Lay the seed in hills, in the month of May, in 
rich ground, and keep the weeds down for some 
time, till the plants are fairly started ; the balance 
they will accomplish themselves. Pumpkins are 
very frequently raised with corn. 



SWEET CORN. 



The Evergreen Sugar, and Siveet Sugar, are the 
earliest kinds, and most valuable for table use. 
It is planted in hills, two and a half feet apart, 
each way, and must be frequently worked. Three 
or four plants in one hill are sufficient. It is 



292 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

a fact well known among farmers, that the richer 
the land, the better the corn. 



CABBAGE. 

Early York, is the earliest kind known. The 
Large York and Early Sugar-loaf are some later, 
but of larger size. The Large Drumhead, and Flat 
Dutch, are the choicest later kinds, generally raised 
for winter use. The Green Curled Savoy, and Red 
Dutch, are very good late varieties also. The seed 
of the earlier kinds should be sown under glass, 
after New Year, or under some kind of shelter, 
at the end of February. It is necessary to sow 
at the same time some of the late Drumhead also, 
to have an uninterrupted succession. The plants, 
raised under glass to a strong size, are planted 
out at the end of March or beginning of April. 
The earlier kinds may be set two feet apart in 
the row, the rows being two and a half feet from 
each other. The late Drumhead should be planted 
three feet apart each w^ay. For later use the seed 
of the Flat Dutch and Drumhead is sown, early 
in the spring, in a warm spot in the Garden. 



THE VEGETABLE-GARDEN. 293 

This later sowing may be repeated during spring, 
to have a good supply of plants for winter use. 
It is better to provide, early in the spring, for a 
great quantity of plants, as further on the young 
plants are often destroyed by the Cahhage-fly. There 
is no sure prevention of this plague. 

Cabbage requires a well-tilled and very heavily- 
manured soil, to come to satisfactory perfection, espe- 
cially the earlier kinds. It should be well hoed 
and weeded. 

The Turnip-rooted Cabbage, a favorite Vegetable 
with many persons, is treated in the same manner 
as the common Cabbage ; it may also be planted 
for early, as well as for winter use. 



CAULIFLOWER, 



Is one of the choicest Vegetables known. Its 
success in open air is very uncertain in the western 
and middle states, owing to the dry heats of early 
summer. In the eastern states the climate is more 
favorable to it. It requires a moist, temperate 
atmosphere to come to perfection. Burning heat 
or drought is sure destruction to it. The plants 



294 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

should be raised over winter in cold-beds, yet under 
protection from the severe cold of the season. Good 
sized plants should be planted out at an early 
period in the spring ; in case of severe frost they 
must be protected with litter or boxes. Cauliflower 
can only be raised in the best and richest ground. 
The plants, set out in cold-beds, and under glass, 
in February, being fairly started till spring, and 
freely watered, are much more apt to form fine 
heads, than those planted in the Garden. There 
are two varieties : the early Asiatic Cauliflower, gen- 
erally used for an early crop, and the Late Dutch, 
best adapted for fall use. For fall use the seed 
is sown in spring, in the Garden, and transplanted 
like late cabbage. If the heads are not formed 
in fall, the plants are interred like cabbage, and 
frequently form fine heads during winter. 



BROCCOLI, 

Is a vegetable similar to the cauliflower, and 
grown in the same manner. It is a more certain 
crop than cauliflower, when planted in summer for 
winter use. 



THE VEGETABLE-GARDEN. 295 



GREENS. 



German Dwarf- Greens^ or Kale, Turnip Greens, 
and Spinach, are sown broadcast, on rich ground, 
in the latter part of summer and early fall. They 
should attain strength enough, before frost, to resist 
the cold of winter. They are used in winter and 
spring for Greens. The Cabbage-fly frequently de- 
stroys the young plants when coming up, in con- 
sequence of which it is often necessary to sow the 
ground over again. In early spring, Kale and 
Spinach are sown, to have a fair supply of Greens 
till the early Cabbage comes on. 



LETTUCE, 

Is the most esteemed Vegetable for Salad. There 
are many varieties cultivated. The Early Qurled 
Indian, and Royal Callage are the most valuable 
sorts. It is sown in hotbeds during winter, where 
good sized plants are raised. In March it may be 
transplanted into a warm, well-manured border of 
the Garden ; for a later crop, some seed should be 
sown in the Garden, and when strong enough, 



296 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

transplanted. The plants are set twelve inches 
apart, each way. Spring is the only season for 
Lettuce; as soon as hot weather sets in, it goes 
to seed, and becomes very bitter and unwholesome. 
For a late supply, some little seed may be sown 
in early fall. Lettuce is a good plant to raise 
under glass, to have a fair supply in early spring. 



ENDIVE, 

Is raised for Salad, for fall and winter use. 
The curled white and green kinds are generally used. 
The broad-leaved Scarolle is a very good variety, 
but is little known in this country. The Endive 
is sown in spring and midsummer, in drills ; when 
an inch or two high, it is thinned out to stand 
a foot apart. Its leaves naturally lie flat on the 
ground, and it must therefore be tied up to bleach. 
It can be preserved a long time in water, in a 
cellar, under the staging of a greenhouse, or in 
a cold frame under glass. 

Cress is an herb of little value, generally used 
for small Salad. The seed is sown thickly, in 
drills; when two or three inches high, it is cut 
off close to the ground. 



THE VEGETABLE-GARDEN. 297 

SORRE L, 

Is used for Salad, or as greens. The seed may 
be sown in drills, and wlien sprouted, thinned out. 
Full-grown roots may be taken up in the fall and 
spring, and divided, thus propagating it. It stands 
over winter, and endures for many years. 

Chervil is, like the Cress, of little value, ex- 
cept for Salad. It is sown in spring, in drills. 



PARSLEY, 

Is sown in spring, in drills. The Double Curled 
is far preferable to the single-leafed variety. Roots 
of Parsley are often taken up in the fall and planted 
in a frame, under glass, where they furnish a sup- 
ply of green leaves during winter. 



CELERY, 

Should be sown early in spring, in shallow 
drills ; the seed, being very fine, is to be covered 
but slightly. The young plants, also being small, 
must be carefully weeded and otherwise tended. As 
they grow up, they should be frequently hoed. 



298 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

Moisture is the life of Celery ; if the ground is 
dry, the plant must be frequently watered. In 
midsummer they should be transplanted in single 
or double rows, ten inches from each other. The 
rows should be seven feet apart. Some gardeners 
make ditches, six or eight inches deep, manuring 
the bottom, and plant the Celery in ; as it grows 
up, the ditch is gradually filled up. Others make 
the ditch but three inches deep, hilling the ground 
around the plants with the spade ; the latter way 
is preferable. If the weather is very hot and dry, 
the plants should be often watered and shaded, in 
the hottest hours of the day, else they are likely 
to burn out. In the hottest time, the ground should 
not be hilled around the stalks ; this is best done 
after a shower, yet never, as long as the leaves or 
stalks are wet from rain or dew. Neglect of this, 
causes rust on the stalks, which should be white and 
clean. In October, the weather is generally favor- 
able for the growth of Celery, the nights being cool 
and moist. The ground is gradually hilled around 
the plants as they advance. For winter use. Celery 
must be well secured from too severe frosts. A 
substantial dam should be raised on both sides of 



THE VEGETABLE-GARDEN. 299 

the row, fully as high as the outside leaves; the 
leaves, however, should not be entirely hilled in by 
the ground. The top of the ridge, thus formed, is 
then covered with straw or litter, over which a board 
is laid, to turn the water off from the center of the 
stalks. Secured in this way, the stalks stand a con- 
siderable degree of cold without being injured. A 
very rich and substantial soil is required to bring 
Celery to perfection. A moist situation is far pref- 
erable to a dry one. 



RADISH. 

The best varieties for spring use, are the Turnip- 
rooted Red and White, the Long Scarlet, and Yel- 
low Turnip-rooted. For summer and fall, the White 
and Black Spanish are preferable. The early kinds 
are sown broadcast, in the very beginning of spring. 
They are quick, hardy, and easily withstand the 
later frosts, if not too severe. A fine, loose, and 
very rich soil is required to bring them on, at an 
early day of spring. 

The Long Scarlet, the best kind for table use, 
is sown at intervals of a week, during spring. It 



300 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENINa. 

does not stand long in tlie liot days of summer, 
without going to seed; and consequently, being unfit 
for use. 

The Yelloiv Turnip-rooted is sown as early as 
possible in the spring, and follows the Red Scarlet. 
It is the best Eadish for late spring use. For fall 
and winter use, sow the White Smmner, or White 
Spanish, at any time during summer. 



BEET. 

There is a quite early variety — LandretKs Extra 
Early. The color of the root varies from yellow 
to red. The Early Turnip-rooted Red, is of a dark, 
purplish color; this is quite early, also. 

The Long Blood-Red, is most preferred for win- 
ter use. Good seed is very important, for success 
in growing Beets. There is much bad seed sold. 
The early kinds are sown early in spring, at inter- 
vals of a week, as the young plants frequently suffer 
from later frost. For winter supply, the seed is 
sown some time during May. The seed should be 
sown in drills, thick enough to secure a full 
crop. The drills should be twelve inches apart, for 



THE VEGETABLE-GARDEN. 301 

culture witli tlie lioe; for culture with tlie Cultiva- 
tor, the drills require to be two feet apart. As the 
plants grow up, they are thinned out, to stand six 
inches apart in the row. Careful hoeing is required 
for the early crop. The ground must be constantly 
loose around the roots. Eich ground is necessary 
to obtain a satisfactory crop. 



TURNIP. 

For table use there are but two varieties worth 
growing — the Flat Dutch and the Bed-topped. For 
spring use, the seed should be sown as early as 
possible in spring, in drills. When an inch high, 
they should be thinned out. The spring crop is 
very uncertain, owing to heat and drought, as well 
as to the cabbage-fly. For fall and winter use,: 
sow broadcast, at different times, late in summer, 
in good and loose ground. Care should be taken 
not to sow too thickly. 



CARROT. 



There are two varieties grown in gardens : the 
Early Horn and Long Orange. The Farly Horn 



302 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

is quite early, when well attended and in rich 
ground. 

Parsnip. Sugar Parsnip. 

Salsify. Oyster-plant. Scorzonere. 

These three species of Vegetahles are similar 
in culture and use. They are sown early in 
spring, in drills, the drills twelve inches apart. 
When up, they are thinned out, to have sufficient 
room. When well worked during summer, they 
form a certain crop. They are quite hardy and 
stand winter without protection. The leaves of the 
parsnip should never he touched when wet from 
rain or dew, as they cause painful blisters on the 
hand or arms, when coming in contact with them. 



ONION. 

The White Silverskin is a good variety for sum- 
mer and fall use, hut does not keep well over 
winter. The Large Yellow, is the best variety of 
onion raised. The Top Onion is a larger kind, 
but coarser and less finely flowered than the two 
former kinds. It bears on the top of the stem 



THE VEGETABLE-GARDEN. 303 

a buncli of small sets, which are gathered and 
planted again. The sets of the two first kinds 
are raised from seed ; in early spring the seed is 
sown very thickly in drills. These seeds produce 
small onions, from the size of a pea to a hazel- 
nut. These sets are planted out, in the spring, 
(by some as early as the preceding fall,) in drills 
an inch deep, four inches apart in the drill. The 
sets need not be covered up with earth. While 
growing they must be frequently cleaned and hoed. 
When the tops are nearly dry, the Onion is ripe, 
when it may be taken up and stored away. Onions 
are very hardy, and well able to resist frost. When 
in a frozen state, they should never be touched, 
and all animals, as chickens, rats, etc., should be 
carefully kept from them. To have green onions 
in winter and early spring, plant onions of any 
size, in furrows six inches deep, in August or Sep- 
tember. They sprout the same fall, and keep green 
all winter. 

Leek is, like Parsley, a Vegetable to be used 
in soup. It belongs to the onion tribe. Sow the 
seed in drills, in spring ; when grown up, trans- 



304 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

plant the plants in rows, or thin out the seed-bed, 
to give room for further growth. It is quite 
hardy, and stands frost. 



POTATO (IRISH). 

The mode of cultivating the Potato is so gen- 
erally known that it is not necessary to take up 
space here with its details. There are many early 
varieties, bearing different local names. Of these 
the kinds, called, in Ohio, the White and Blue 
MeshannicJcs, are far superior to all others, either 
as early Potatoes, or for winter use. 

Sweet Potatoes. — There are several varieties, known 
by their colors, as the Med, Yellow, and Purple. The 
earliest are the Red. The Yellow attain the largest 
size, and are the surest crop. The Sweet Potato 
is a native of a warmer climate than that of the 
middle States. Its foremost requirement is a very 
loose, sandy soil, rather poor than rich. The ground 
should be finely pulverized and then raised in hills 
or ridges, in which the Potato plants are set. 
When hills are made, three or four plants should 
be put in a hill. In ridges the plants should 



THE VEGETABLE-GARDEN. 305 

be twelve inches apart. The interior of the hill 
or ridge should contain no clods of ground, but 
be composed entirely of loose, fine soil. 

Sprouting the Potatoes and raising the plants, 
until ready to transplant, is the part requiring 
most knowledge and attention. The bed wherein 
the plants are to be sprouted, and which requires 
to be in a very sheltered place in the Garden, if 
not under glass, should be first warmed with fresh 
horse manure. After this has nearly done steam- 
ing, it is covered with a layer, six inches deep, of 
dry, sandy soil. The Potatoes are laid on this 
bed, near each other, and covered with dry sand 
and earth, to the depth of an inch. While they 
are sprouting, and not yet above the ground, it is 
highly important to keep them entirely dry, as water 
will cause them to rot. When two or three inches 
high, they may be watered. They remain in the 
bed until the time comes for transplanting, w^hich 
is during the month of May, early or late, accord- 
ing to the season. Sprouting-beds should be under 
sashes, or else covered with a tight cover of boards. 
It is the practice of many Gardeners, to lay the 

entire Potato in the bed, and afterward to nip 
26 



306 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

off the sprouts, without taking with them a por- 
tion of the old Potato. Sprouts, when pro- 
cured in this way, are not very certain to live. A 
far hotter plan, we have found to he, to cut the 
Potato in small pieces half an inch long. These 
pieces are then spread thickly over the hed, and 
covered with pure sand. Each piece will produce 
one or more sprouts, and these can he much easier 
transplanted, hecause they have a piece of the old 
Potato with them, from which to draw their nour- 
ishment, until they are firmly estahlished. 

Where Sweet Potatoes are to he preserved over 
winter, they must he handled with much care, that 
they may not he hruised. In order to keep them 
from rotting, it is only necessary that they he put 
in a place where they will he dry and warm. When 
first dug, if the weather is fair, they should he 
exposed to the sun for a day or two. In the 
room where they are put over winter, they should 
he put in hoxes, of any size most convenient, and 
then covered over with dry sand or dry dust from 
the roadside, saved for this purpose. The place in 
which they are to he put should he so constructed 
as to keep out the frost. 



THE VEGETABLE-GARDEN. 307 

THE STRAWBERRY. 

Much has been written on the nature and the 
best modes of culture of this favorite Garden-fruit. 
Such multitudes of rules and explanations have 
been offered by cultivators, botanists, and amateurs, 
as have rather befogged these matters, than ren- 
dered them plainer. We will content ourselves with 
giving a few simple directions, which, if followed 
by the amateur, will give him productive beds, with 
but little trouble or expense. 

The Strawberry plant is by nature very much 
inclined to run to vines, and spread over a large 
surface of ground. The want of knowledge how 
to remedy this evil, is the main cause of the gen- 
eral ill-success of Strawberry *' patches,^' in private 
Gardens. The end of April or beginning of May, 
is the best time to set out a bed of Straw^ber- 
ries, which will not, of course, bear until the fol- 
lowing year. Great numbers are set out in the 
fall, but they do not thrive so well, in the mid- 
dle States. The ground must be carefully tilled 
and dressed. It is then laid off into beds four 
feet wide, with a narrow walk between every two 



308 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

beds. Two rows are planted in each bed, two feet 
apart, and tbe plants, eighteen inches apart. In 
the course of the summer and fall, the vines will 
overrun the whole bed, entirely covering the ground. 
In the fall, three rows, nine inches wide, are marked 
off on each bed, with a garden-line, and all plants 
outside these lines are taken up. If the three 
rows which remain are then too full, they may, 
and ought to be thinned out, to give the plants 
sufficient room for the next season, wdien they will 
be found to bear very full. The ground between 
the rows should be well hoed in the fall, and cov- 
ered thinly with well-rotted vegetable manure, some 
of which may also be sprinkled between the plants. 
Thus the beds remain during winter, except that if 
in an exposed situation, they will be benefited by 
being covered with a layer of straw, or fine brush. 
In the spring they should receive another thorough 
hoeing. The runners should not be allowed to 
grow before the fruit ripens. This is prevented 
by pinching them off. After the close of the bear- 
ing season, the plants are allowed to grow as they 
please, until fall, when the mode of treatment above 
described, should be again gone through with. By 



THE VEGETABLE-GARDEN. 809 

following these directions any one may secure an 
ample harvest of Strawberries, with but little trouble. 

We have seen proper to quote another mode of 
raising Strawberries, which we have seen in Mr. 
Elliot's "American Fruit-Grower's Guide:" 

" Culture in alternate Strips. — Strike out the 
rows, three feet apart, with a line. Plant along 
each line about a foot apart in the row. The 
plants vvill soon send out runners, and these run- 
ners should be allowed to take possession of every 
alternate strip of three feet; t^ie other strips being 
kept bare by continually destroying all runners upon 
it. The whole patch being kept free of all weeds, 
the occupied strip or bed of runners will now give 
a heavy crop of berries, and the open strip of 
three feet will serve as an alley from which to 
gather fruit. After the crop is over, dig and pre- 
pare this alley or strip for the occupancy of the 
new runners for the next season's crop. 

" The runners from the old strip will now speed- 
ily cover the new space allotted to them, and will 
perhaps require a partial thinning out to have 
them evenly distributed. As soon as this is the 
case, say about the middle of August, dig under 



310 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

the whole of the old plants, applying a light coat of 
manure. The surface may be then sown with Tur- 
nips or Spinach, which will come out before the 
next season of fruits. 

*' In this way the strips or beds occupied by 
the plants are reversed every season, and the same 
plot of ground may thus be continued in a pro- 
ductive state for many years." 

In setting out a new bed, young plants should 
be selected, as old stocks are worthless for this pur- 
pose. The beds must be carefully weeded, and the 
spread of the little white clover plant must be espe- 
cially guarded against. It grows very fast, and 
will soon overrun a whole bed ; and a patch over- 
run with clover, had better be dug up at once. 

Strawberries are not choice as to soil. Almost 
any moderately deep Garden-ground is suitable for 
them.'-' 

" Owing to the high price Strawberries bring in the markets 
of our cities, their culture has been, of late years, brought to 
great perfection, by much experimenting upon their growth, 
and wants. It is confidently stated in southern papers, that 
by proper care, Strawberries may be made to produce a con- 
tinuous succession of berries, from the time they first commence, 



THE VEGETABLE-GARDEN. 311 

It is important that beds should not be kept too 
long, as tbey deteriorate. They should be changed 
entirely, at least every three years. 

In regard to barren and fertile plants, we will 
not attempt to give any lengthened explanation, 
as the subject has been frequently spoken of by 
various writers. Mr. Elliot, in his excellent work 
on '• Fruit-trees," says on this subject: ''It is an 
old saying, that every person enjoys some hobby 
on which to ride. Mr. N. Longworth, of Cincinnati, 



in early summer, until the close of autumn. This very desi- 
rable result is said to have been brought about by constant 
and regular watering of the plants. "Vegetable manure only, 
and plenty of water morning and evening," says a report on the 
subject, "will (in the opinion of the gentleman who published an 
account of the experiment, a South Carolinian), produce a con- 
tinuous crop of Strawberries, anywhere in the Middle, Western 
and Southern States." Animal manure is said to be highly 
injurious, as it fosters a natural tendency to run altogether 
to vines. We have not yet seen or heard of any one in the 
Western or Middle States, who has experimented in this newly 
suggested treatment, and can not, therefore, vouch for its appli- 
cability to the latitude of the Middle States; we give it for 
what it is worth, hoping that some of the readers of this work 
will give the plan a trial. 



312 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

has received the credit of starting the hobhy of 
(in common phrase) male and female Strawberry 
blossoms, and so vigorously has the hobby been 
ridden, that with locomotive power and speed, it 
has found its way into every journal in the country, 
whether horticultural or otherwise ; and so generally 
is the distinction of Staminate (male) and Pistillate 
(female) flowers understood, that we do not deem 
it necessary here to re-describe." 

The same author further remarks, " With this 
understanding, therefore, that varieties are continu- 
ally produced, in which one organ is most promi- 
nently developed, and measurably to the destruction 
of the whole, as a fruit-bearing flower, it has become 
a requisite, in planting, to secure such portions of 
fruit-bearing or pistillate plants, with the fructifying 
or staminate varieties, as to return the desired yield 
of fruit. The Pistillates being regarded as the 
female, are counted valuable in newly formed beds, 
as of ten to one of staminates or males.'' 

The following varieties have been selected and 
pronounced the very cream of all sorts of Straw- 
berries, by the same author : 

Burr's New Pine. — Fl. pistillate : very productive. 



THE VEGETABLE-GARDEN. 313 

Western Queen. — Flowers pistillate ; very pro- 
ductive. 

LongivoriJi' s Prolific. — Flowers Hermaplirodite ; 
productive, regular and sure bearer. 

McAvoi/'s Superior. — Flowers pistillate ; fruit very 
large. 

Jenney's Seedling. — Ripening late ; flowers pis- 
tillate ; very productive (3,200 quarts having been 
gathered from less than three-quarters of an acre). 

Prolific Hautboy. 

Beside these choicest kinds, we would mention 
two other kinds, universally esteemed and most 
extensively cultivated : 

Hovey^s Seedling. — Flowers pistillate ; productive 
and very early. 

Hudson — Pistillate ; more extensively cultivated 
than any other variety. It ripens later than others. 

Eich, deep, loamy, inclining to clayey soils, 
are generally found to produce the largest berries, 
as well as most in quantity. 

Trenches two feet wide and two feet deep, 
with one foot of straw or leaves laid in the bot- 
tom, and filled up with good soil, well repay the 
labor in the extra crop produced. Wet ground. 



314 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

where water stands after rains, or springy, cold 
soils, should never be selected. '^ 



FORCING. 

Forcing Vegetables, under glass, is one of the 
most important operations in gardening. It is very 
largely carried on, and is a profitable business in 
the neighborhood of all large cities, where it is in 
the hands of professional gardeners. In private Gar- 
dens, where no regular gardener is employed, it is 
of course carried on on a smaller scale, and only 
to forward, in early spring, the few plants, as Cab- 
bages, Tomatoes, etc., which could not otherwise be 
planted until early summer. 

Forcing is a department of gardening of itself, 
and we shall not attempt more, in this article, than 
to give some plain directions for the guidance of 
the amateur. 

There are two ways of forcing Vegetables, viz: 
in Hotbeds, where artificial heat is produced by the 
fermentation of manure, and in Cold-beds, where a 
sufiicient degree of heat is produced by the action 
of the sun throwing his rays through the glass. 



THE VEGETABLE-GARDEN. 315 

Hotbeds, can be made at any time during the win- 
ter, while Cold-beds can only be started in spring, 
when the sun's rays are more powerful than in 
winter. 

For Hotbeds, the frames are made of rouo-h 
boards, to suit the size of the sashes. They are 
set on a bod of fresh horse manure, which has ])een 
well tramped down and made level. The best of 
ground is filled on the bed of manure, six to 
eight inches deep, after which the sashes are put 
on the frame. A few days are required to break 
the brisk heat of the bed. After the ground has 
acquired a mild heat, the seed may be sown. Much 
care is required when the seed is coming up ; if the 
weather is favorable, air must be freely admitted, 
else the tender plants are in danger of damjnng 
up. When they have attained the hight of an 
inch or two, another bed or sash should be ready, 
into which to transplant them. In the new bed 
they should stand two inches apart each way. In 
this way the plants, for most of the Vegetables 
which have finally to be transplanted into the 
Garden, may be raised. Tomato-plants require to 
be transplanted frequently, else they grow too high 



316 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

and weak. Salad may be planted in the same way 
as mentioned above. A bed stocked with Lettuce, 
will supply a family a whole season. Eadishes, 
in hotbeds, require much air ; they are, to the 
unexperienced planter, a very uncertain crop. It is 
more advisable to raise them in cold-beds. 

For particulars on hotbed culture, see works 
especially treating on the subject ; it is not the 
intention of the present book to occupy this ground, 
which is indeed a very extensive one, and difficult 
to explain without explanatory engravings. 

The management of cold-beds is less difficult. 
They may be started about the middle of February, 
according to the weather. A bed of the very best 
and finest of ground should be prepared in the fall, 
and kept covered over winter, to have it in readi- 
ness in spring. A frame covered with sashes is 
then put over the bed. On a mild day, sow the 
seed of Eadishes, Cabbage, or whatever is designed, 
in the ground, or plant out some stronger plants 
reared in the hotbed. The bed should be pro- 
tected from frost by sufficiently surrounding its 
sides with manure, and covering the sashes with 
straw mats or boards. Plants raised in cold-beds 



THE VEGETABLE-GARDEN. 317 

are naturally much stronger than hotbed plants, 
but come on somewhat later than the latter. In 
March and April the plants will grow very rapidly; 
they should freely enjoy the mild, fresh air, and 
in case of warm showers, the sashes should be 
taken off. 

Forcing-beds, should be placed in the warmest 
spot in the Vegetable-garden. If possible, they 
should be sheltered against north and west winds, 
by a tight fence or wall. They must have an 
aspect to the south, and a fine exposure to the 
sun's rays. 



RAISING SEED. 



Two rules are to be strictly observed in rais- 
ing seed : 

1. Never to plant related kinds of Vegetables 
near each other, when it is desired to obtain seed 
from either. 

2. Always to select the best fruits, roots, or 
plants of each kind for seed. 

The related kinds, if going to seed near eaxih 
other, will frequently deteriorate ; thus, if two 



818 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

varieties of Eadishes, Beets, Turnips, etc., are planted 
together, the seed of either will produce many differ- 
ent varieties, which are not to be relied on. 

A certain part of a row of Peas or Beans should 
be selected when in fruit, and set apart for seed. 
Thus the plants will produce a full crop of fruit, 
which is taken home when fully matured and per- 
fected. To save only the last, which is always 
the poorest, for seed, is bad policy, and no good 
seed can be thus obtained. 

Of Tomatoes, Eggplants, Peppers, Melons, Cucum- 
bers, and Corn, the earliest and largest fruit should 
be saved for seed. 

From a patch of late Cabbage, the best, full- 
est, and hardest heads should be selected, well taken 
care of over winter, and planted out in spring. 
The seed of the main stem is far preferable to 
that of the lower side-branches. Early Cabbage 
and Cauliflower seed is mostly all imported from 
England, our climate being unfavorable for per- 
fecting the seeds of those varieties. 

Greens, as Kale, Spinach, etc., run to seed in 
early summer, when the tops are cut down and 
saved. 



HIE VEGETABLE-GARDEN. 319 

Of Lettuce, the best heads are saved for seed ; 
all the rest should be removed before going to 
seed. Endive is planted out in spring for the 
production of seed. 

Eoots, for seed, should be selected with especial 
care. The round-rooted Vegetables, as Eadishes, 
Beets, and Turnips, should be well shaped, having 
but one thin and short root (tail) ; all forked roots 
are unfit for seed. The long-rooted kinds, as 
Carrot, Parsnip, Salsify, Blood-beet, etc., must be of 
straight and uniform shape, having but one root ; 
no forked Carrot, Beet, or Parsnip, should be planted 
out for seed. The roots, except early Eadishes, 
are all to be kept over winter and planted out 
in spring. 

The Onions set apart for seed should be of 
large and flat shape. The careless seed-grower 
indiscriminately plants all that comes to his hands, 
and thus a great quantity of worthless seed is 
produced yearly, and palmed off upon the public 
as a first-rate article. 



INCLOSURES, 



FENCING, HEDGE-PLANTING, ETC. 

As a substantial and permanent Inclosure is 
indispensably necessary to the safety of any place, 
we desire to make a few remarks on tlie mate- 
rial of which they should he composed, and on 
their relation to the scenery which they surround. 

Owing to the scarcity of suitable rail timber, 

and the high prices of fencing lumber, in many 

parts of the country, public attention has, of late, 

been directed to the cultivation of Hedges, to which 

a plant indigenous to this hemisphere, the Osage 

Orange ( Madura aurantiaca ), is peculiarly well 

adapted. Many experiments have been made with 

this plant, and it is now a well-established fact, that, 

by proper management, it will make a dense, strong, 

and permanent living fence, equal to any Euro- 
(320) 



INCLOSURES. 321 

pean thorn liedge, and far superior to other inclo- 
sures constructed of wood. Hedge planting, where 
performed without due understanding and precau- 
tion, Avill not naturally be attended by favorable 
results, which is the reason why some men, disap- 
pointed after the first trial, have dropped the sub- 
ject, and openly pronounced the whole a humbug 
of the day. 

It would be useless for us to give any lengthened 
details on the cultivation of Hedges, in this volume, 
as sufiicient light has been thrown on the subject, 
by the various writings of practical men ; we will, 
however, mention three fundamental points, acknowl- 
edged by all writers and practitioners, to be neces- 
sary for the successful cultivation of the Osage 
Orange, viz: The careful preparation of the ground 
before planting; a suflSciency of plants in each 
row, and the proper attention in pruning and trim- 
ming, especially during the first years of its growth. 
If these three things are well attended to, hedge 
planting will, in most cases, prove satisfactory, as 
so many beautiful specimens of young Hedges 
throughout the country may testify. 

A place pretending to be a Garden, should be 



322 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

provided with a substantial indosure, whose shape 
and appearance are in accordance with the degree of 
elegance of the whole premises. To surround a 
well-kept Pleasure-ground with a heavy rail fence, 
or a scanty-looking board fence, would surely be a 
grave fault against all relative fitness. Whether 
a board or paling fence, or an iron railing, it should 
please the eye by its well-finished workmanship. 

A well-trained Hedge, is undoubtedly a suitable 
inclosure for such a place ; and though its clipped 
shape may not be in conformity with the natural 
groups and forms of the inside, yet its presence 
will be fully justified by the sense of its necessity 
to protect them properly from the encroachment of 
outsiders — man or beast. 

A rage for the "picturesque'' obtaining, with 
some gardeners and improvers, has induced them 
to try their skill, even on the cultivation of Pic- 
turesque Hedges. The system of hap-hazard mix- 
ture, is said to produce wonderful effects on hedges. 
Let flowering shrubs, as Eoses, Snowballs, etc., be 
set between the plants composing the body of the 
hedge, and let these shrubs attain a natural form; 
to break the uniform top line, this is one of the 



INCLOSURES. 323 

recipes to form a picturesque Hedge. We would 
hesitate to try an experiment of this sort on a 
large scale, as we consider the inctiiresque, and a 
hedge, to be tAvo extremes in the economy of plan- 
tation, wliich can never be harmoniously brought 
to2;ether. We remember to have seen wild-aTow- 
ing, and completely neglected hedges, but we never 
thought of calling such ^^ picturesque^ 

Another pattern of picturesqueness, in hedging, 
is to choose a serpentine line, in the place of the 
old-fashioned straight line, generally met with in 
hedges. It is useless to say anything against such 
a picturesque taste — which can only gratify the 
notions of the adopter, and disgust everybody else. 

A hedge, when ornamented with fanciful feathers, 
is sure to lose, beside its usefulness, its reasonable 
sense of necessity, which alone excuses its stiff 
form, and justifies its presence ; it should not pre- 
tend to be any more than what it really is — a 
permanent line of separation. 

To conceal the boundaries and fences as much 
as possible, is a rule generally acknowledged in 
Landscape Gardening. This is done to give a natu- 
ral freedom to the scenery, and to hide the ugly 



324 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

shape of fences. The smalluess of many places, 
also, may even make it desirable, to give an idea 
of greater extent of property. 

In the parks of Europe, often containing thou- 
sands of acres, and surrounded by a large tract 
of land, also controlled by the proprietor, it is an 
easy matter to give an idea of an unbounded 
range of property, by expelling all unsightly boun- 
dary fences. It is there the duty of the Landscape 
Gardener, to use every means in his power to 
impress the beholder with the magnitude of the 
wide-spreading domains of his employer. Mr. Rep- 
ton recommends, in one instance, that every mile- 
stone, and every tavern-stand round about, should 
be stamped with the arms of a certain nobleman. 
Deceptions and impositions in this way, would prove 
useless and ridiculous in a republican country like 
ours, where no one acknowledges in his neighbor 
the right to domineer, and where real estate re- 
peatedly undergoes the process of speculation, and 
consequently is divided and re-divided. The pass- 
ino' crowd find it difficult to believe that all their 
eyes behold, for many miles round, is the prop- 
erty of a single individual. 



INCLOSURES. 325 

To give an idea of unbounded property, should 
in no case be attempted, where everything around 
contradicts it. On the other hand, it is very com- 
mon for us to see a proprietor employ, beside a 
Landscape Gardener, a whitewavsher * also, who is 
set to work to whitewash the entire boundary- 
fence, to make it conspicuous, and to show to behold- 
ers at a distance, the extent of the patch under 
his control. 

We feel somewhat doubtful whether this is in 
harmony with a correct taste, though no one will 
dispute that painting, or even whitewashing of the 
most conspicuous part of a neat boundary-fence, 
along the highway, or otherwise, is desirable and 
even necessary. 

Proper attention should also be paid to a neat 
and tasteful entrance-gate. The fence and gate 
should, under all circumstances, be congruous to 
one another, and collectively to the whole grounds. 

A Gate-Lodge, built in a plain, yet neverthe- 
less tasteful style, will add considerably- to the 

** Whitewashing the stems of noble forest-trees in the garden, 
betrays a want of taste. 



326 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GAPtDENING. 

importance of the entrance, and more yet to the 
safety of the premises, if occupied by a trust- 
worthy keeper. 

Fences are necessary to divide the various de- 
partments of the premises from one another. Thus 
the parterre of Flowers surrounding the house, if 
situated on a terrace, should have a j)i^otection- 
halustrade, which might very appropriately be orna- 
mented with Flower Yases, and should in all cases 
be elegant and of a tasteful pattern. 

The Pleasure-ground should be divided from the 
Park by a line of separation, to keep the cattle 
and sheep at a proper distance from the Flowers 
and Shrubbery which embellish the scenery round 
the mansion. This line, however, should not be 
made conspicuous, by a heavy board fence or stiff 
hedge, as this would divide the ground into two 
scenes, which ought to be but one — differing one 
from the other only in the degree of elegance and 
high keeping ; the pleasure-ground being but a 
beautifully-polished foreground, to the wide-spread- 
ing, picturesque scenes of the Park. 

To this end two kinds of Fences may be chosen; 
' a wire fence, painted green, which is scarcely visi- 



INCLOSURES. 327 

ble from a distance, or a sunk fence, often called, 
Ha-ha. The sunk fence is built on the same prin- 
ciple as a common board fence; it is set in a 
trench, with slanting sides, having the same depth 
as the intended Fence. Thus two law^ns, of which 
the one is kept under the scythe, and the other 
grazed by cattle, will appear to be one scene, ani- 
mated by the movement of the animals, which are, 
nevertheless kept at a proper distance from the 
habitation of the proprietor. 

It is evident that a wire or sunk Fence, is 
only necessary at such points, as are open to the 
eye, as the Lawn. In the thicker parts of masses 
of Shrubbery and Trees, almost any common fence 
will do, if not visible from a distance. Where a 
Pleasure-ground is bounded by tilled fields, which 
is often the case in the country, it should natu- 
rally, also, be divided by a Fence ; which, if respect- 
able-looking, will not be objectionable. 

The Groves of Trees and masses of Shrubbery 
of the pleasure-ground, should not be harshly cut 
off at this fence, but should occasionally extend 
beyond it, while detached clumps of trees may be 
set at some distance from them, in the fiekl, to 



328 PRACTICAL LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 

give some continuity to tlie scenes of the pleasure- 
ground. 

The Vegetable-garden, also, mtist he secured by 
a boundary Fence. For this purpose a hedge may 
be chosen, or which will be more economical, a 
hoard fence might be made, on which Grape-vines 
may be trained. 

The masses of plantation in a Park, when newly 
set out, must be surrounded by a temporary Fence, 
as long as the trees are small, if it is desired to 
pasture cattle on the lawns. Such fences may 
be removed as soon as the trees have attained 
sufficient strength to resist the encroachment of 
animals. 



THE END. 



3477 



n "n? 



